Crazy Little Thing Called Love
by Ashlee Insane
Summary: Annie Cresta isn't a Career and certainly isn't worthy of the title Victor. When she gets reaped, she will do anything to get her partner back home... even if it means pretending she's something she's not or sacrificing herself. But Finnick Odair has other plans for her.  So does the Capitol.  Annie can only try to stay alive through it all... and harder yet, sane.
1. Prologue

AN: Hey everyone. Just a quick message before I begin. In honor of the upcoming film "The Hunger Games" based on the novel of the same title by Suzanne Collins, I have decided to make a fanfic. I was lucky enough to snatch a role in the film as a Capitol Citizen, so it's near and dear to my heart... and something I know quite a bit about. This story is about Finnick and Annie. I have over 35000 words written out so far. This is the prequel. Right now, my goal is to get the first part done in time for the film release, so I'm focused more on plot rather than grammar and continuity. Please see my profile for more details about the story, and message me or review any questions/concerns. Thanks for reading!

I don't know what's happening.

I actually don't know a lot of things right now. It's been a while since I had knowledge of anything. The days have blended together, and there is only one night. I have no idea what the time is. I am in a constant haze. I feel like I've been sleeping with my eyes open for the longest time.

My throat hurts. They want me to answer questions, but I can't understand what they're saying. I try to tell them that, but my voice cracks and is raspy at best. They don't believe me anyways. They can barely understand me. It makes me think that they are just doing this for amusement. They might be. I don't know. I don't know anything.

That thought is not in my head for long. They're back.

"What is the significance of the Mockingjay?" His voice is echoing in my head. I remember—vaguely—Finnick telling me about a girl who is also a Mockingjay. A girl can't be a mutt. It doesn't make sense. It just doesn't.

I shake my head. I try to tell them just that. "It doesn't make sense…"

I think I hear shuffling, but I'm not really paying attention. All I can think of is how this doesn't make sense. Finnick said this wouldn't happen, and he's always right. What happened this time? Where is Finnick?

"Get it."

My world immediately focuses, and my eyes lock onto them. "No, please! I don't know! I just don't know!" They continue about their business. I know it is hopeless, but I continue to plead anyways. I don't want to be in this haze. I don't want to hurt anymore.

It seemed like I was pleading forever before the pain actually started, although I'm sure it wasn't that long. The worst part is the first few minutes; I'm still somewhat mentally aware then. Then, I go completely numb.

After the numbing, all I see are clear flashbacks of the days before. The days that mean nothing—and sometimes everything—to them, but the most to me.

All I want is Finnick.


	2. When We Met

I was 11 years old when I first laid eyes on Finnick Odair.

My Father, Gether Cresta, was Captain of a fishing boat, the _D4-Aquamarine_, in District 4, and Finnick's father was the manager of the fishing company that my dad worked for. His father, Mr. Uly Odair, was one of the most important people in our District—excluding the mayor and Peacekeepers, of course. There was only one fishing outfit, so he was the only one in charge. Without him, there were no fish for any of us or the Capitol. It's safe to say that he had tons of money and luxury.

Each year, Mr. Odair would sponsor the Fisherman's Ball and invite the Mayor of 4, the heads of Shellfish, Trapping, Ships, Equipment, and Preparation, along with various key people in each department. That was how our District worked: everyone was under the Mayor, but our jobs were all separated into those sections. That year, my father was lucky enough to snag an invite to Mr. Odair's rather large home. Of course, my mother and I both accompanied him to the party.

I remember putting on my nicest dress. We weren't a poor family, but we certainly weren't "Odair rich." My nicest dress was sea-foam green; my mother said it was her favorite because it matched my eyes so well. It was simply cut being tight at top and waist then flowing down to right below my knees. I wore it with my best tan sandals and my favorite pearl necklace that my grandmother had given to me when I turned ten. My mother tried to tame my unruly hair, but the salty sea air always made it a little frizzy. I had always wanted my hair to get wavy like my mom's did in the sea air, but eventually I learned to appreciate my straight locks.

That day, the three of us set out to the Odair Mansion—well it wasn't really a mansion. It definitely wasn't as big as any of the houses in the Victor's Village, but it was larger than any house I had ever been to. Father rang the doorbell, and a very kind looking lady answered it. She smiled and welcomed us in, and chatted for a while with Mother and Father, but I don't remember anything she said. Eventually, she left to talk to other guests and she took my Father and Mother with her. I was left by myself in what looked to be a formal living room.

I'm sure I must have wandered around the room and explored, but I don't remember what exactly I did. I do, however remember what happened after about ten minutes.

I ended up staring out the window, admiring the beautiful ocean view. When I was that age, I didn't know how to swim. Mother claimed that I would never need to know such a talent as women didn't need to do any of the sea-type jobs that District 4 had. She was determined that I would grow up to be a medic or something equally boring. I, however, had always wanted to learn. It was the first wish I ever made.

Suddenly, someone snapped me out of my haze and gathered my short, 11 year old attention span. "Why, hello there, Girly!"

I scowled and turned to look at whoever was bothering me. It was a boy who looked to be a couple years older than I was. He had untidy, sandy blonde hair, and green eyes—his were a tad stormier than my own. He was grinning at me, and though I'm sure it wasn't quite sincere, I remember thinking that it was the prettiest thing I had ever seen. My scowl disappeared almost immediately, and I blushed.

Of course, that made the cocky bastard's grin grow even larger. "You do know this is a party, right?" he asked me.

I turned back to the window before I answered him. I wanted to seem aloof, but in reality I was afraid my face would betray something. "Of course I do. But it's a party for grown-ups… I don't see any other children here, so I'm keeping myself entertained without bothering them," I replied, thinking I was just the smartest thing.

He laughed, "You're right about there not being other children here, but that doesn't mean we can't have a party for us, too!"

I turned towards him, intrigued by the possibility of doing something other than staring out the window, dreaming of impossibilities. "What do you suggest?"

He didn't reply. Instead he held out his hand.

I didn't know at the time that by taking it into my own, I was entwining our futures together. I had heard of crushes from my friends in school, but I had yet to have one myself—let alone anything more. However, I'm sure that if I went back to that point in time with all of the knowledge I have now, I would recognize the as at least more than a crush. Cliché, I know.

The boy led me out of the formal living room, into a formal dining room. We went through that into a banquet room with a table full of food. He quickly grabbed a few things, and then we continued until we reached a kitchen. I thought we would stop there as it wasn't populated at all, but we kept going. He took me out a door, and we were outside on a green, perfectly manicured lawn. Only the rich could afford pure water for their lawns. The rest of us had to be content with whatever was there. Still, we kept going. The grass eventually turned into sand, and we were next to the sea. He led me to a boulder and jumped up on it. After helping me up, we sat there and stared at the sea which was crashing against the shore about a foot away from us.

"This is amazing…" I had whispered under my breath.

He heard me. "Aw, this isn't anything special," he replied with a face full of Hush Bread.

Of course, I, being forbidden from going anywhere near the water despite living in the water district, was quick to refute his claim. "Oh, but it is! I've never been this close to the water before!"

He dropped his plate of food, none of which he had even offered to me by the way. The boy's eyes found my own and his jaw became slack in disbelief. "You mean you've never been in the water before?"

I looked back out of the water, laughing at his reaction. "Nope. My mom says that I don't need to be out on the water where it's dangerous. I can stay home and learn to be a medic or something instead."

The boy shook his head, keeping his disbelieving look on his face. "No offense, but your mom's insane." He sat back down by me.

"If it helps any, I've always dreamed of learning how to swim. And fish actually—like my dad. Oh, and spear, and tie knots, and harvest shellfish, and trap, and—"

He started laughing again. "You're weird. What's your name?"

"My name's Annalinda Cresta. I hate it though—you can just call me Annie. Everyone does."

He held out his hand for me to shake. "Finnick Odair. You can call me Finnick." He ended that with a wink, and yet another cheeky grin.

I rolled my eyes, but before I could say anything, I heard our parents calling our names.

That was my first encounter with Finnick Odair—simple and sweet. Sure, he was a slight jerk, and yes, we didn't do much of anything, but it was memorable. Most importantly, it was enough to make me want to see him again.

I didn't see much of Finnick after that. I found out from Mother that he was two years older than me, so we didn't see each other at school. Of course, I could tell that he spend a lot of time in the water. I didn't, so there went the chances of us accidentally running into each other in our free time. I began to forget about him.

One day, about a year later, I ran into Finnick at the Fish Market. Surprisingly, he was the one that came to talk to me. I was standing at the tuna stand, when I heard my name being called, "Oh Annalinda!"

I cringed, but turned around anyways. There he was. He had grown up a lot since I last saw him. He was taller, more muscular, and tanner, but still retained the same hair and eyes. "Finnick? Finnick Odair?" I had to make sure before I made a fool of myself.

He made a grin that I now realized was something he commonly did. "The one and only!"

I rolled my eyes, which I now realized was something I commonly did—around him anyways.

"It's been forever since I saw you! I can't believe you remembered me."

I cocked an eyebrow in amusement. How could I _not_ remember him? He had been the only thing I had thought about for about eleven and a half months after I met him. Kidding—it was only about four. Still, you don't forget your first crush that easily.

I didn't say anything, because he kept talking. "Anyways, do you remember what we talked about when we met?"

"Yes…" I started, wondering where he was going with this.

"Well," he began, "I told myself that if we ever met again, I'd teach you how to swim. It must be fate!"

I looked away from the tuna to his face. He seemed to be perfectly serious. Learn to swim? My mother definitely wouldn't approve, but I'm sure that if I told her I would be with Finnick Odair she would be much more sympathetic. After all, social climbing in District 4 is almost as good as being a medic. At least that's what she told me.

Still, I felt like I should protest. Sure, it had been my dream since I was old enough to know what water was, but it was still nerve-wracking to consider. I knew at least 4 people connected to me that had died by drowning, getting poisoned by some type of sea creature, or boating accident. I didn't want to suffer the same fate. I looked at Finnick. He was staring at me with curiosity, slightly surprised that I was taking so long to answer. Eventually I would have to.

"Sure…"

There were worse fates than any of those.

We arranged to meet on Sunday at noon. Neither of us had any work or that many chores to do. At noon, the sun was high—a guarantee to keep the water warm and inviting. Plus, the tide will have just gone out at that time, giving us a nice, calm, shallow practice area. I frowned slightly, the deaths weighing heavily on my mind. I may not have played a part in them, but death is something that should not be taken lightly in these days. You never know who was going to go, whether from natural causes, accidents, or the Capitol (although no one would ever voice that last option aloud).

Finnick must have seen what I was thinking on my face, because he tried to comfort me with a, "Don't worry. I'll make sure nothing hurts you… you'll see it's worth it to learn in the end."

My frown disappeared for a moment, and I nodded. I didn't doubt it. "Thanks, Finnick. I'll see you at your house on Sunday." He smiled back and turned to go, but I stopped him. "And Finnick… Don't call me Annalinda again."

He guffawed, shaking his head and walking away. I went back to my tuna.

At first, I didn't think we would end up meeting that Sunday.

As soon as I had gotten home from the market, I went to my mother, eager with the good news. The problem was, I forgot that learning to swim was only good news for me. To her, it was annoying: something that she didn't want to have to deal with, but would have to anyways if she wanted her way. Mother was completely against my learning to swim, despite the social gains. There was no point in learning, as I would never do need to do it. Wasting time was not a good thing to do in District 4—and that's exactly what my mother thought I would be doing.

Of course I protested. I even appealed to my father. He simply said, "She's right," and went back to his salmon. Father never had many opinions in our house. Even if he had, I'm sure Mother would have overruled them. The only authority he held in our personal home life was work and knowledge of fish—not exactly helpful in this case. I was left with no choice but to call Finnick and cancel.

I never really used the telephone in my home. Almost every home in District Four had one, with the exception of the Unem Sector. "Unem" was short for unemployed. That was the section of the District where all of the unemployed citizens lived. They scraped by doing various jobs that were needed in the District; it wasn't a pleasant life. I was happy I lived in the Lower Sector, where the middle class families lived. The Heads and their families all lived in the Upper Sector, and of course the Victors lived in the Victor's Village.

It wasn't Finnick that answered the phone, but his mother in a smooth, cool voice. "Odair."

"Hi…" I began. His mother was intimidating, even on the phone. "This is Annie Cresta—a friend of Finnick. May I please speak with him?"

There was silence, and at first I thought that she had hung up on me. But, about a minute later, Finnick's rough voice was heard over the speaker. "Annalinda…"

"Don't call me that," I snapped.

"I'm sure you had some other reason to this call other than to tell me not to call you by your name." I could tell he was laughing at me, and it rubbed me the wrong way, as usual.

I frowned. My voice had a cooler tone to it than what I wanted it to originally be. "I'm not coming on Sunday."

He was quiet. "Aw, come on, Annie. I didn't mean anything by it! You just have to learn—"

And that was all it took to make me feel guilty. I supposed it did sound like I was being a bit hard on him. He was only teasing, after all. I sighed. "It's not that I don't want to, I'm just not allowed."

"Come anyways! Don't tell your parents what we're doing. Find a way, Annalinda… and I'll see you on Sunday!" He hung up.

All I thought of was how annoying it would be to spend time with him and his ego. More like his ego and him. Yet for some reason, I couldn't wait.


	3. When We Became Friends

Our first swim lesson didn't go all that well.

I was deathly afraid and a slow learner. It was slightly awkward, and I was hesitant to do anything seeing as I was already disobeying my parents just by being there. I just couldn't stop imagining drowning and my mother saying 'I told her so' at my memorial service.

We went to the same boulder that we were at the day of his party, but instead of stopping, continued down the beach. It curved to the right and we followed it for about 10 minutes, when it began to get a little rocky behind the beach. A cliff gradually sprang up behind us, leaving a small cave at its bottom. That, combined with the white sand beach and the calm, blue water made it the perfect atmosphere for swimming.

Finnick had brought a wring with him—how he got his hands on that I'll never know. A wring was basically a belt that you strapped around your waist and when it buckled it kept the wearer afloat—something to do with buoyancy. District Three apparently built them for people in the Capitol when they wanted to go swimming in a "pool…" whatever that was. A few people in Four had them too, but I had never personally seen one before.

"Alright, Annie. First things first, put on the wring. You'll wear that until I think you're comfortable enough to swim alone."

I hesitantly grabbed the wring and clipped it around my waist. "How on earth did you get one of these?" I asked him.

He shrugged. "It's my mom's. She doesn't know how to swim, so the Mayor got it for her as a present one year."

I stood there awkwardly as Finnick ran into the water and dove under an incoming wave. After about three minutes, I was getting worried. Surely a person couldn't hold their breath for that long?

Finnick resurfaced not a second after I thought that. I guess they could. He shook his head, banishing the water from his hair, before turning towards me. "Well, what are you waiting for? Come in!" he commanded.

This was it. I took a deep breath and hesitantly walked towards the water's edge. We in the Lower Sector had running water, but it never got hot. Sometimes it would get warm if we were lucky though. Those in the Unem had to pump water from wells. But I knew what water would feel like. However, I wasn't prepared for the ocean. I took a step in about knee deep and stood there for a moment to get used to it.

The next thing I did was trip. Apparently the waves make the sand soft, which caused my feet to sink and stay put, even though my rest of my body was moving forward. I was face first in the sand, and I could hear Finnick's laughter coming closer to me.

Then I heard him scream. "Annie! Get up, quick!"

I propped myself up on my elbows to begin getting up, but hesitated to wipe some sand off my cheek. Then, I proceeded to get smacked in the face with a wave. I opened my mouth to scream, but of course only sucked in water as the wave sent me tumbling back to the beach. It deposited me forcefully onto the damp sand (face up this time, thankfully). I coughed, trying to spit up the water and catch my breath. My eyes, nose, and throat all burned because of the salt. It was not a very pleasant experience.

Finnick ran up next to me and bent over my head. "Are you alright?" he asked, his brow furrowed in worry.

"Yeah. Sure. I've only just breathed in/swallowed my weight in saltwater. Looks like I can't swim anymore since that'll just make me sink." I stood up on shaky feet. "So, I guess I'll be going now…"

Of course Finnick would have none of that. He just laughed, grabbed me by the wrist, and pulled me back toward the treacherous sea.

"What are you doing?" I shrieked. "Let me go! I don't want to go in! I want to live!"

My protests and attempts to escape only made him laugh at me more. "Come on, Annie! It gets better, I promise! Plus your body is already 70 percent water or something like that, a little more won't cause you to sink. I'll stay with you this time too. I have a feeling you might be a little harder to teach."

I rolled my eyes but stopped protesting. For some reason, I had trusted him. Eventually, we made it past the breakers, and began to float over gentle swells. Finnick kept his arm around my waist the entire time until I began to relax.

"See, this isn't so bad, now is it?"

"I guess not…" I didn't want to admit I was wrong, but this gentle floating was everything I had hoped it to be. I was definitely right in coming here.

I would never have admitted this then, but I had always been afraid of being entered in the Hunger Games. I know my District is usually a Career district, but my mother was determined for me to be a gentle lady. Part of the reason I wanted Finnick's help to swim was because of the Games. Him teaching me about spears, hooks, and other things were just an added bonus. It made me feel better about my future though. If I ever was entered into the Games, maybe I would have a shot.

Finnick went on to show me a few different strokes after he made sure I could stay in one place without him. I learned to tread water, and when I got tired—instead of holding me up like I wanted him to—he showed me how to float on my back. That was probably the most useful thing anyone could have ever taught me.

The next lessons went better as I began to feel safe with Finnick. He wasn't such a jerk if you got to know him. Then I realized—I had been seeing this boy every Sunday for up to five hours for about three months now, and I actually _didn't_ know anything about him. When we had our lessons, we would only talk about swimming. So, I decided to ask. We were resting in the shallow cave that was on the shore. I was dripping wet, just having come back from the water. He was dry, having been watching instead of actually helping (although I was proud that I could be in the water by myself now).

"Finnick," I began nervously, "Do you have any siblings?"

He didn't look as if he recognized that I was talking to him at first. Then a new look came over his face—one that I couldn't quite describe… excitement maybe? Maybe he did have a sibling and was excited to talk about them? I soon realized that theory was completely wrong. "I used to. I had an older brother. He died in a net accident when I was 9."

I looked away from him. This is why I didn't try to be personal. Why did I have to be stupid and ask him that! Why?

Still, he smiled at me. "Do you have any?"

He seemed just fine, despite the mention of his dead older brother, so I answered him regularly. "No. I'm an only-child. Both of my parents are only-children too, so I don't even have any aunts or uncles. Sometimes I've wondered what it would be like to have a brother or sister though."

"Do you think you would like it?"

"No, I don't think so. My parents are either demanding or apathetic. I wouldn't want to listen to my sibling complain about them or keep them entertained. I'm fine on my own."

He looked at me with a puzzled expression on his face—he seemed to be doing that a lot lately—and asked a question I had never thought of. "Don't _you_ want someone to vent to or keep _you _entertained?"

I was shocked that he had twisted my words and used them against me. My mother always told me that I was great with words and had an excellent vocabulary for a simple 12 year old. I prided myself on being clever with words, yet this boy continued to outsmart me. It should have made me mad, but instead I found myself laughing. "I suppose that would be nice. I guess I'll just have to rely on my friends for that."

Finnick and I became the best of friends after that day. We were inseparable every Sunday between noon and six. We met up sometimes during the week too. Eventually we stopped with the pretense of my swimming lessons—by then I was almost a better swimmer than he was, and he was the best swimmer in our school. We would mess around with spears, trying to get fish. He showed me how to make fish hooks, use a trident, and harvest shellfish. When we were done with all of that, we would talk. I had my normal friends at school, but Mother usually kept me home so I didn't actually have anyone close to me. Finnick was different. Mother tolerated him half of the time that I was with him because he was from the Upper Sector, and the other half she didn't know that I was with him. She was still blind to the fact that I was now comfortable in the water.

But with this new friend, came new fears—I didn't want to lose him.

* * *

><p>Eventually, the day I had been dreading since I was old enough to learn what they were had arrived. Reaping Day.<p>

I woke up that morning, and already the air was thick and somber in my house. It was my first Reaping, only being 12, and my parents had no other children to go through it with before me. At least they would only have to for the next six years.

I walked downstairs and hastily ate my breakfast. Since my family was pretty well off, we weren't too scarce for food. Still, we were a bit lacking in other necessities like candles and soap, so I took three tesserae: one for each member of my family. Hopefully, I wouldn't regret that decision. While it was mine to make, I knew my parents would have asked me if I hadn't of done it. They like to pretend they're wealthier than they actually are.

After breakfast, Mother dressed me in the same dress that I had worn to Finnick's house last year. Then, she did my hair. She parted the long, dark hair to the side, and tied back a small section with a tan ribbon that offset my green dress yet matched my sandals. She curled it a bit too, making it shorter than it really was and giving me an innocent, girlish appearance. My hair was naturally straight, but it was easy to curl or wave, especially with the sea air.

All of the citizens headed to the Square—the center of District 4—to find it sectioned off like it normally was. There were sections for the each age group of children, then a section for those that were too old or too young to enter the Games behind us. I got settled in my year 12 section, and then glanced about trying to find Finnick.

Eventually, my eyes found his in the year 14 section. He had been smiling and talking to some boys next to him, but when he saw me his smile disappeared. I'm sure I looked terrified. I knew that if I was a tribute, I wouldn't make it past the Bloodbath. I was entirely too sheltered, despite my new skills that I had acquired with Finnick's help. I didn't know anything about a weapon—the best I could do was trap people in a net or poke them with a fish hook. 'It's going to be ok,' he mouthed to me. I tried to smile back at him, but it just felt like a frown. I nodded instead.

Our attention turned to the stage at the front of the Square. A middle-aged lady that I knew as Raida Tone took center stage, standing in between two large glass bowls. She had incredibly long hair, going all the way down to her knees, and it was a perfect, electric blue. Her eyes matched her hair. She also had silver swirls tattooed on almost every inch of her body. Despite the Capitol enhanced looks, she wasn't a very attractive lady. Still, she had an air of complete happiness about her that seemed to calm the audience down.

"Hello everybody! I just _know_ you're all as excited as I am for Panem's 65th Annual Hunger Games!" The crowd went insane with cheering. Most of the people in my District weren't like me. A lot of them had been training for the Games their entire lives. They saw the Games as a challenge that they were eager to take on and prove to the world that they could overcome. I only hoped that someone would volunteer to go in my place if I were called.

"Alright, well let's get started then! Ladies first!" Raida's tattooed hand reached in the glass bowl on her right. The crowd was silent as she opened up the slip of paper. "The female tribute from District 4 is Aqua Lenare!"

A plain girl with bleach blonde hair walked up to the stage from the 17 year old section and stood next to Raida. She was incredibly muscular for a female—a Potential for sure. She was smiling as if her greatest wish had come true. I let out a breath that I didn't know I was holding. I was safe for another year!

I looked over to Finnick, and he was smiling to me while signaling thumbs up. Then, his eyes returned to the stage along with my own.

"The male tribute from District 4 is…" Raida reached in the bowl to the left. I held my breath. There was only one other person who's safety I was wishing for now, and that was—

"Finnick Odair!"

* * *

><p>Finnick made his way up to the stage, and the crowd was screaming and applauding like I had never heard them. Everyone knew who Finnick was, everyone knew what he was capable of, and everyone had a crush on him. I'm pretty sure I did too. They knew this would be a Game worth watching.<p>

My breathing became heavy. I was positive I was almost hyperventilating. When he got on stage, he turned to us with a smirk and gave the crowd a flirtatious wink. They went crazy, and that's when I started to cry. The only person that I truly cared about other than my parents was going to die.

They asked for volunteers, but surprisingly no one did. I guess they thought Aqua and Finnick would be good entertainment or no one felt they were better than them. I don't know. I just remember standing there paralyzed with everyone cheering around me and Finnick egging them on. It was like he lived on the crowd's energy. I could see through it though—the fear in his eyes. The crowd in the Square eventually dispersed and went about their plans for the day. I didn't. I didn't even find my parents, which I'm sure they were looking for me. Instead, I went straight to the Justice Building. There, I would find Finnick receiving friends and family, maybe even for the last time.

The Justice Building was huge. It was old fashioned looking, like government buildings back before Panem in the Old World. It was made entirely from marble. Overall, it was grandiose. I entered and ran up to the receiving room where all public interactions took place. I had never been here, but I heard it was where you went to see tributes because my Father had seen a couple of his favorite workers off and told me about it. There were signs up too, so it was rather easy to find. My sandals were silent as they quickly pounded across the black and white swirled floor. I eventually came to a large, cherry wood door. Outside the door was Raida and a group of people in a line, probably waiting to see Finnick off. I got in the back of the line and stood silently trying to compose myself.

I realized that I cared for him much more than I probably should have. He was the first person to ever truly befriend me, the first person I was ever really close to. My parents never even really bothered to actually talk to me like Finnick and I did. As a matter of fact, he probably knew me better than they did. I saw him more often, too.

I refused to cry anymore. I tried to smooth my hair down and fix the curls from being too unruly. I straightened out my dress and wiped the dust from my shoes as best as I could. I dried my eyes and blinked, although I was sure that they were still red. I couldn't be weak in front of Finnick. I wasn't the one that was facing my doom, he was. I had to be strong so he would be.

I was next in line. Raida glanced me over. She intimidated me. The way she looked at me was unnerving to say the least. "What's your name?" she asked.

"Annie Cresta." My voice shook slightly. I was suddenly thankful that she was talking to me, because I could now practice controlling it. I wouldn't let it betray me.

She nodded and jotted down my name. "Which tribute are you here to see?"

"I'm here to see Finnick. He's my best friend."

She smiled brightly at that. "It's good to see that he has so many good friends! That means he's likeable. That's sure to get him an excellent fan base!"

I never really thought about it that way before, but Finnick really was likeable. I could tell by the way he played the crowed after he was reaped. He was someone that everyone knew about, and the only reason someone wouldn't like him was because he was good at everything he did. If he got enough fans, people were sure to sponsor him, which means he would get more help in the arena. Then, he'd have a greater chance in winning.

I only nodded miserably in response. He shouldn't have to have a greater chance in winning, because he shouldn't have to be in the Games at all.

Raida didn't seem to notice my mood, because she said in a cheerful voice, "You can go in now, but he only has a few minutes. He had a lot of visitors that took up most of his time."

I walked past her and opened the door.

I'm sure the room was beautiful and as grand as the rest of the Justice Building, but I didn't pay any attention to it. All I remember seeing was him, sitting on a green velvet couch. He had been staring out a window on his left, a strange expression on his face, but when the door opened his expression quickly changed to a mask of happiness. Then he looked to see who it was.

"Annie!" he exclaimed. He was up on his feet and ran to greet me with a hug. I almost broke down then, but I managed to keep up the façade.

"Hey, Finnick." I replied quietly.

He backed up and stared down at me with his beautiful green eyes. It was unnerving, but in a different way than with Raida. It was sort of nice. "I'm really happy you came. For a minute there, I was scared you wouldn't."

I managed to emit a light chuckle. "I came straight here… it's just that your fan club managed to beat me to the door. I was almost trampled!"

He put on a fake serious face. "We wouldn't want that, now would we?" We were both quiet for a second before he continued in a semi-exciting tone. "That's going to be my strategy, I think. I have to win over as many fans as possible. I'm going to be one of the younger tributes being 14, but if I can win over sponsors or get my hands on a trident, I'll be fine. I haven't been trained for the Games like some of the kids around here, but I know how to take care of myself more than some."

I knew he was referring to me. I also hated to hear him talk about this, although I was halfway thankful that he had already come up with a brilliant strategy. I knew by the way he was now looking at me that he had seen my internal struggle to keep myself composed.

He continued, quieter this time and more thoughtful. "You don't have to worry about me, Annie. I'll be back, and we'll continue our swim lessons like nothing ever happened—even though you don't really need them anymore."

"Yes I do! You have to promise!" I couldn't take much more of this. My voice was very small now, and my eyes were growing blurry through the oncoming tears.

He gave me his knee-weakening smile as I called it—big, confident, and gorgeous. "I promise." He reached up and ran his hand through my long curls, and when his hand went back to his side, I realized that he took my tan ribbon with it. The door opened and Raida came pounding in, gushing about being late or something. I didn't pay much attention, but I did pay attention to Finnick's last words to me.

"No matter what you see Annie, you know that's not who I am. You know me. Don't forget." Then he was gone.


	4. When He Left

I've tried to forget the 65th Annual Hunger Games. In reality, I probably should have been able to since I was such a wreck. I actually remember watching them quite clearly.

Finnick was paraded across the Capitol in a chariot. He looked stunning dressed as the fabled ancient god Poseidon, from the pre-Old World era. The crowd cheered. I cried.

Caeser Flickerman interviewed him. He was entirely yellow that year, wig, skin, suit, and all. That was before he started wearing midnight blue every year. It hurt my eyes to look at him.

"So, Finnick," he began after the crowd had finally stopped cheering. Finnick definitely was following through with his strategy—I could tell he had way more fans than any other tribute.

Caesar started asking questions about home and himself. He answered them in a flirtatious manner, making the audience fall in love. They cheered. I cried. He made alliances with the Careers. He scored a brilliant 10 on his Private Training session. He gained sponsors. I should have been ecstatic for him. Instead, I cried some more.

Finally, it was the time I had been dreading above all the rest. The Games were about to start. The camera showed all 24 tributes on their beginning platforms. Some looked positively scared out of their minds, and others, like Finnick, had an air of confidence about them. It made me feel a little better.

The tributes were off. A few brave souls ignored the Cornucopia and ran off into the surrounding trees; the other 21 went straight for the Bloodbath. The cameras were everywhere at once, trying to catch all of the violence. It was a curse and a blessing that they stayed on Finnick most of the time, because on the one hand I would know how he was doing… but on the other, I would know how he was doing. He was the first to the Cornucopia. This one only held weapons—no other items of use. Unfortunately, there were no tridents either. Instead, Finnick grabbed a spear and a few knives, then made a run for the tree line. Finnick could handle a spear—not as well as a trident, but definitely better than the other tributes. Well, better than all except maybe Aqua.

The cameras showed a few others dying or fighting. I didn't see them, I only saw Finnick. I couldn't look away, even though I wanted to. I suddenly wished I had paid more attention to the Pre-Games; maybe then I would know what he was up against.

Suddenly, the camera was back on Finnick. To my horror, a knife was sticking out of his right shoulder. I couldn't keep myself from gasping. The camera went to a girl with short, spiky blonde hair. She wasn't a Career, she was a tribute trying to take them down so she would stand a chance. She looked happy that she had managed to hit Finnick—he was fast after all. The camera went back to Finnick, a look of shock and pain on his face. It was gone quickly though. He ripped the knife from his shoulder and flung it at the girl. The knife embedded itself right between the girl's eyes. She was dead. The camera went back to Finnick, and he gave a smoldering wink before running off to find his allies.

I was appalled. I knew he would have to fight, but I didn't think it would be like that. He actually looked proud to have killed that girl. I remember thinking that absolutely no way that girl rated a knife between the eyes. Then, I remember what Finnick had told me. 'No matter what you see, it's not me.'

I watched as Finnick speared a couple of easy pickings still looking for weapons. He had killed three so far. I couldn't tell, but it looked like way more than usual had been killed in this year's Bloodbath than normal. There were three other Careers remaining, making four Careers total. They were currently looking for cover. The Bloodbath was over.

It turned out that a record number of 11 tributes had died in the Bloodbath. The four Careers, the three who fled before it started, and six others were left. It seemed to quiet down in the arena. This year, the arena had sand for ground and very little foliage. There were plenty of pine trees though—although there were no branches below at least 15 feet. There were also lots of different sized rocks and boulders. The audience had yet to see any mutts or other type of animal. I knew we would soon.

I was right. Mutt scorpions about 6 inches long were chasing after the Careers. Why? Why were the Gamemakers messing with the Careers? The answer was obvious: the country wanted to see Finnick. He needed airtime, and things would get boring just with him. The Gamemakers had to have a reason to show him, and reason they did thanks to the giant mutt scorpions.

They were all spearing at the mutts which were oozing a deadly looking green liquid from the fangs. One of the Careers fell and the mutts were on him. He started screaming and convulsing… it was terrible to watch.

Finnick speared at one of the mutants, and it wouldn't come back to him. It had cracked a rock, and now was stuck there. He left it and shot off in a direction away from his companions. Luckily, the mutts went after the two remaining Careers and left Finnick alone. The Gamemakers probably didn't want to kill off their star so early. The cannon shot three times. There were ten left. Finnick had a one in ten chance of coming back. I started to hope.

Four days had passed. The Gamemakers kept things interesting with sandstorms, various types of mutts, poisonous provisions, and the complete lack of water in the arena, but only 2 more died. Things were starting to get boring, and something was bound to happen soon. Most of the tributes, including Finnick, were weaponless. They were going to be pushed together eventually.

That's not what happened though. Instead the camera suddenly switched to Finnick. I straightened up, suddenly focused. A large parachute was coming down towards him. I had been wondering why Finnick hadn't been getting anything—I had been sure that he would get sponsors, but up until this point in the Games, he hadn't received a thing.

I knew why the second he opened it. It was a brilliant, silver trident. I breathed a sigh of relief. There was no way Finnick would lose now. That was easily the most expensive gift in Games history. At first, he didn't do anything but stare at it. The next move he made was the first thing that made me smile since Finnick left: he pulled something out of his pocket.

The camera showed what was in his hand for a split second before going to a close up of his face, but I saw it. It was a small, tan ribbon—a ribbon that matched my nicest pair of sandals perfectly. A ribbon that I had worn in my hair on the day of my first reaping. A ribbon that I let Finnick take the last time I saw him. A ribbon that ended up being the token of Panem's most sought after male. My ribbon. And Finnick was clutching it and smiling, hope shining in his eyes. My smile must have matched his own. It remained on my face, but Finnick's slipped off and turned into a look of determination. He was up and running through the arena.

I don't remember much after that. It happened in record time. Finnick flew through the arena and used the trident to kill the remaining eight tributes. My best friend, Finnick Odair of District 4, won Panem's 65th Hunger Games.

He was coming home.

* * *

><p>After he won, it was an entire week before I could see Finnick again. It was on a Sunday. I woke up that morning and was sure to look my best. By noon I was sitting on the boulder in his backyard.<p>

He snuck up on me. I never remembered him being that quiet, but I guess he learned a few things trying to stay hidden in the arena. I didn't want to associate my Finnick with the Finnick that Panem knew. That one was a ruthless killer who did nothing but tease. I remembered my Finnick. I knew him better than anyone else. He only did what he had to do to survive and come back home.

"Annie…"

I jumped from the boulder into his arms, crying from pure happiness as he swung me around. Eventually he stopped swinging me and we sat on the beach. I didn't let him go though, and I kept crying. He tried to calm me down by stroking my hair and making mindless shushing noises. It worked, but only after what seemed like forever.

"I'm so sorry, Finnick. I swore to myself I wouldn't do this," I told him with a sniff.

He chuckled. "Don't worry, Annie. It's nice to see emotion for a change."

I winced. He had been around fake, frivolous Capitol citizens and ruthless killers since he left. I didn't want to be reminded about the Games, and I'm sure he didn't either.

"Sorry…" he apologized after seeing my reaction. "How about we just agree to talk about it only for today? Then we'll forget it ever happened."

I nodded in agreement.

"Go ahead and ask something. I know you're dying to."

I swallowed. "That wasn't really you, was it?" I asked quietly. I looked at him. He was looking toward the sea with a dark expression.

"No, but I thought it was towards the end there. The first one was the hardest. It got easier after I got the trident. I was after everyone, I didn't have to wait for others to kill because I knew I could. I just kept thinking that if I didn't I would never get home. The last one was hard too, because I felt relieved when it was done. No one should feel that way after someone dies…"

I was silent for a second, but he seemed to be done. On to the next question, "Did you really take my ribbon with you as your token?" I was hesitant to ask that question. I might have been 12, but I was old enough to know the implications of a positive answer.

"Yes." He colored slightly, but I noticed. I'm sure he noticed that I did too. "Annie, you're the only thing that kept me going in there. All I could do was think about coming home, seeing you, my family, and having everything go back to normal."

"I'm so happy you won, Finnick. I was a wreck while you were gone. I'm sure my parents think I'd gone mad. I cried when you were hurt," my eyes wandered to his right shoulder. There was no scar, but I knew he would always remember that it used to be. "I cried when you got the trident. I cried when the tributes died. I even cried when you won!" I giggled. "I'm just weird like that I guess."

He laughed with me. "I always knew you were crazy. I think that's why I like you so much."

* * *

><p>Our story may have started out like the perfect love story: boy meets girl, boy likes girl, boy leaves girl, girl realizes she likes boy, they're reunited, and then live happily ever after. Unfortunately, that's not exactly how it went.<p>

Yes, now I know that Finnick did like me. He later admitted that despite his age, I was the only one that didn't care about his looks. I wanted to spend time with him because I wanted something from him that wasn't actually _him_. I told him that it was because I was only 12 and didn't even know I could have him at the time, but he says it still would have been the same.

When he came back from the Games, everything was fine for the rest of the year. He had changed, there was no denying it. He always had a tired look to him, as if he never slept. He acted much older than he did than before he left; much less noisy and annoying. And sometimes, when he thought I wasn't paying attention, he would get this horrible expression on his face—like a wince or a grimace. But then I would give him a nudge and he would be back to normal. We spent every single second we could together. I was 13; I didn't love him like a lover, but I did feel strongly for him. It would have turned into love with age, I think. But it didn't get the chance. After Finnick returned home from his Victory Tour about a half a year after his Games, there was something off about him.

I went to meet him at our usual boulder after the Tour. There was something weird about the look on his face, even from far away, but I didn't think anything of it. Instead I stood up and waved, grinning excitedly. Finnick hesitated for a second, but continued towards me. He wasn't smiling.

"What's wrong?" I had asked, finally catching on.

He took a deep breath as if preparing himself. "Annie, I have something to tell you."

I sat down, keeping eye contact. I felt my face lose its smile. "What is it, Finnick?" My tone betrayed me. I was scared; I didn't like how he was acting.

"This is the last time I'm going to see you, Annie. I want you to leave. Don't try to talk to me again."

Everything stopped—the ocean, my breathing, the entire world. At first I thought he was joking. Why would Finnick not see me anymore? Was he moving? He already moved to the Victor's Village, where else would he go? Was this really his doing, or did the Capitol have a hand in it? I knew he wouldn't just drop me; we had been friends for years now. He was my best friend, and I was his. Yet there he was, standing there with a cold look on his face. It was true. Whether he wanted it or not, I would not see him again except for on the television—if I could bear to watch.

I didn't know what to do. Should I yell at him? Should I go quietly? I remember the pain from this moment was worse than any injury I had ever obtained. I wanted to cry, but I refused. I wouldn't let him see what he was doing to me. Instead, I stood up and, as gracefully as I could, hopped off the boulder.

Suddenly, I was angry. This wasn't my Finnick. This was the Finnick from the Games. This was Panem's Finnick, the one that was in love with every girl the country—I was no exception. How foolish of me. He played me just as he played the crowds.

There was so much emotion in me—pain, hurt, regret, anger—and none of it was good. I was only 13 at the time; I didn't know what to do with it. So, I put it in words. I wanted him to feel like I did. I would make him feel the excruciating pain that I was. I would get rid of my hurt and give it to him.

"I'll do what you want, Finnick. You'll never have to hear from me again. I just want to say one thing before I go. I know something changed you in the Capitol this time. You're not my Finnick anymore—you're _theirs_. I'm just happy you dropped me so I don't have to be played like your fans are."

And with that, I walked away from him for the next four years.

* * *

><p>My words seemed to have their intended effect. Every time I caught a glimpse of Finnick, he didn't ignore me like I thought he would. Instead he just stared with a pained expression on his face. It was like he wanted to say something to me, but he couldn't at the same time.<p>

What I had told him was true. And yet I wasn't the same without him. Before Finnick I was quiet and shy; I didn't have any friends because I never wanted them. When I had Finnick, he was really all I needed. No one else mattered. Now that I knew what it was like to have a friend, I wanted them. I made an effort to talk to people at school and in the market. I began to become popular—not popular by Finnick's standards, but popular in a smaller way.

When I was 15, I got my first boyfriend. His name was Layke Green. He was Finnick's complete opposite. He had dark, jet black hair, pale skin, and was sort of tall and lanky. Still, he was cute, kind, charming, and funny, which is really all that mattered to me. When I was still friends with Finnick, I pictured him being my first boyfriend, but Layke turned out rather nicely. He was sweet, and even though other girls liked him he didn't act like he was president of Panem.

Plus, Finnick had his own girlfriend too—or at least that's what I heard. Well, he didn't really have just one. It seemed like every other day the news reporters from the Capitol were interviewing some girl on what it was like to date the young and beautiful victor from District 4. I hated all of them.

Despite how hurt I was, by the time I turned 17 I had all but forgotten about Finnick. Layke and I were still an item, and I don't think either one of us were planning on changing that anytime soon. As a matter of fact, once we both finished school and were settled with jobs, we would probably get married. My mother approved of him, and my dad tolerated him—not like either one of them really had a say in the matter.

My mom never found out that I was a brilliant swimmer. I kept up with it after Finnick ditched me for his harem. I could use a spear and a trident, I could make nets and fish hooks, I could name and harvest different types of fish and shellfish, but I knew I would never be great with those without his help, so I had to be content with being average.

I wasn't going into any sort of fishing field, just like my father had wanted for me. I also wasn't going to be a medic like mother wanted. Instead, I was going into public speaking. It turns out that I was really good with getting people to listen to me, and not only that, but I could easily persuade them too. I don't know how, but if I really wanted something, I could easily convince someone to do it or get it for me. My teachers recognized this and set me on track to be a spokesperson. I'm not entirely sure what they do, but apparently it's a pretty high ranking job. I may even get to travel to the Capitol and other Districts if I'm good enough. Not that I would ever really want to.

I hated the Capitol.


	5. When I Was Reaped

I got up one morning like usual. It wasn't a good day; it was a reaping day. I tried to console myself with the fact that I would only have to go through this and one more, but I was still depressed. I didn't like the feeling that I had. I had long outgrown my green dress; I now had the curves of a woman rather than a 12 year old, and was much taller too. I was fit from all of my swimming, yet I didn't have the body of a Career or even a fisherman. I was still just a girl.

I got dressed in a white sundress. It was halter styled and tight at the waist and billowed out. Mother said it looked better on me than anything I owned, but that wasn't much considering everything else I owned wasn't that great. My hair—still dark brown—reached down to my waist. It got straighter as time went by and was harder and harder to curl. Instead, I just brushed it out and smoothed it as best as I could. I didn't do anything else but slip on my tan sandals. They were almost the exact same I had had as a child but larger and nicer.

I didn't bother eating. I never ate on Reaping Day. Instead, I said goodbye to my parents and went off to find Layke. He was still out his house when I finally made it to him.

"What are you doing here, Annie?" he asked, surprised to see me there.

Everyone still eligible for the reaping usually spent the day before the ceremony with their families. I knew that, and while I loved my family, I would rather be with him. "I wanted to see you before the ceremony…" My voice was small. I was scared, and I knew Layke was too, even if he was a Potential. The difference was that I was easily readable at the moment, and he was the picture of confidence.

He sighed, stepped outside and closed the door behind him. We sat down on his front porch. Layke put his arm around me, and I leaned onto his shoulder. "Don't worry about it, Annie. There are thousands of children to pick from—most of which took out tesserae. The odds of your name getting pulled from the bowl are not in your favor."

"Yes, but I'm not the only one I'm worried about."

He smiled softly at me. "The same goes for me. Not to mention this is my last Reaping. We'll both be fine. I promise."

We stood up and headed to the Square, hand in hand. I went to stand with the other 17 year old females, and after a quick kiss, Layke went off with the 18 year old males. After a few minutes of waiting, Raida walked onto the stage.

This year, Raida Tone was sporting neon orange colored hair. Instead of stick straight like it usually is, it had cork-screw curls. It was still long though, giving it an insane, wild look. Her tattoos had changed too, going from designs to different sized, neon polka dots. The only thing the same about her was that her eyes were still bright blue, and she still had the same happy yet intimidating persona.

"Welcome, District 4, to the beginning of Panem's 70th Hunger Games!"

The crowd cheered. I wondered if other Districts were as excited each year for the Games, or if they saw them for what they really were: murder. I didn't have long to ponder this though; Raida plowed on. She had a schedule to keep.

"Let's get to it, then! No need to wait any longer than necessary!" There were shouts of agreement from the crowd. "We'll start with the females!"

I held my breath. My eyes found Layke, and I was suddenly aware of how familiar this was—5 years later, with a different boy, but I was still looking to someone else for support. I really was a weak person, despite it all. If I got reaped, I was a goner for sure.

Unluckily for me, that's just what happened.

"Annalinda Cresta!"

I don't remember what happened after Raida called my name. I didn't pass out, but I think I did go into shock. Layke told me that I lost all of my coloring (which would have been hard to do because I was very tan that year) and stood there with wide eyes until someone pushed me onto the stage. Even then, I didn't blink, move, or even think. I was an inanimate object.

I wasn't aware of anything around me until I heard the next name that Raida called.

"Flynn Barlowe!"

I let out a sigh of relief. Layke was safe, and since he was 18, he would never have to participate in the Games.

"Any volunteers?" Raida asked.

Two hands shot in the air immediately. Both were males. One was an intimidating looking Potential that I recognized from school. The other was Layke. I stood, paralyzed, as they made their way to the stage, where a Peacekeeper would verify their ages. The oldest of the three possibilities would be the one to go. Flynn was on his way to being a Potential, but he looked younger than me. I silently hoped that the Potential was older than Layke. Or better yet, that Layke withdrawal.

"And our _new_ male tribute is Layke Greene!"

I hated Raida Tone.

* * *

><p>After the Reaping, I was ushered by Peacekeepers to a room in the Justice Building. I could hear Raida talking somewhere near me, but I didn't actually comprehend a word she said. I was still stone.<p>

The door opened and two people walked in. One was an old lady with long, white wispy hair. She was short and slender, but didn't look fragile like most of the elderly around here do. She had dark, almost black, eyes. I recognized her because she had been on stage earlier, but other than that I had no idea who she was.

Following behind her, was Finnick Odair. Tall, muscular, green eyed, bronze haired, tan, beautiful, heartthrob, Finnick Odair. The man who, figuratively, had broken my heart four and a half years ago… and would now literally help me to keep it going.

Everything came crashing down on me all at once. I burst into tears. I don't know how long I cried for, but it couldn't have been long. I remember Layke tried to comfort me, but the old lady stopped him. She looked pained, as did Finnick.

Raida, however, looked shocked. "What's the matter with her?"

She was right. Crying wasn't going to help anything. I knew I would most likely be dead within the week, but I would try my hardest not to make that my fate. I took deep breaths and dried my eyes.

The old lady snapped at Raida. "How would you feel if you were faced with your possible death? Insensitive cow!"

Raida gasped at her lack of manners, but tried to keep her cool. She took a second to collect herself, and then continued. "Being chosen for the Hunger Games is a great honor, Annalinda. You should appreciate it like predecessors did."

I ignored her, even though I wanted to reprimand her from using my full name. Instead I turned my attention to the white-haired lady. "Who are you?"

"You can call me Mags. I'm your mentor. This is Finnick, your other mentor." Short, simple, and to the point—I liked her already.

I wasn't happy about having Finnick around, but I would have to get over it. It was his job to keep me alive—even if he did hate me. Mags would hopefully override any life threatening decisions he tried to make against me. "You can call me Annie," I replied. I shot a look towards Raida, hoping she'd take the hint. Luckily, she wasn't as stupid as I thought.

"I'm Layke."

Layke! In all of my mental deadness, I had forgotten he was here! This was so unfair. There was no way I was going to be able to kill my boyfriend. There was no way my boyfriend would be able to kill me (at least I hoped that was the case). I looked to him. He was staring at me with a look that said, 'We're going to have to have a talk later.' I nodded as discreetly as I could before Raida started talking again.

"Well now that that's over, you will have 15 minutes to say goodbye to your families. Annie, you can stay here—your parents will be in shortly. The rest of you can come with me." She ushered them all out the door before turning back towards me. "You have 15 minutes, starting now." She left.

With her exit came my parent's entrance. They didn't look good. For the first time, I noticed how old they looked. They were actually quite young, each in their late 40s, but now they seemed much feebler to me. Both of them were stony faced, but I could tell Mother had been crying. Her eyes were red and puffy. I briefly wondered if that is what I looked like when I went to see Finnick, but I put him out of my thoughts. Now was time for my parents.

Mother immediately embraced me. She was shuddering slightly, as if trying to catch her breath, but didn't shed anymore tears. She didn't say anything. Father came up and hugged us both. He held his emotions in much better than Mother did. Finally, they let go and backed up. We stared at each other for about two seconds before Mother burst into tears. I refused to cry anymore, but I wanted to.

"I'm sorry, Annie! I should have let you learn how to swim. I should have let you train with the others. You could have been a Potential, and then maybe things would be easier. I'm so sorry!" She was holding her head in her hands now.

I grabbed her hands. "Do you honestly think I would be this calm if I knew absolutely nothing about self-preservation?" She looked up, a surprised expression on her face. Even Dad shot me a look. It was now or never. I was going to tell them about Finnick for the first time. "Finnick taught me to swim. I'm actually the best swimmer in my school now that he's graduated."

They looked shocked, but didn't say anything. I continued.

"He also taught me basic skills with nets, spears, tridents, hooks… that's what we did on Sundays. Not study. I'm nowhere near at Career level, but I'll be much better off than at least a few of the other tributes. I'm persuasive too. You don't have to worry about me," I finished with a reassuring smile.

I was persuasive, because Father started laughing and clapped me on the back. Mother gave me a small, sad smile. "Never have I been so happy for you to disobey me. We're so proud of you, darling."

"We love you, Annie," Father added.

We hugged for most likely the last time, and before I knew it, they were gone. I missed them already.

I had a couple other visitors from school, but no one as important as my parents. Even a couple of my teachers showed up to wish me luck. I think some of them thought I actually stood a chance.

Eventually, Raida came to collect me. I was ushered with Layke, Finnick, and Mags onto a fancy train. I didn't get to rest and collect myself yet though. No, instead I was guided into a large, elaborate bathroom occupied by four strange people.

The first was a man. He looked to be a little older than my parents, maybe in his early fifties. He had pitch black hair and matching eyes that were lined in silver. It gave him sort of an "other world" look, especially with his pale white skin. He didn't have any tattoos like a lot of the other people from the Capitol. He did, however, offset his black and white look with neon clothes—which now consisted of a neon yellow button up shirt and neon pink pants. He introduced himself as Septimus, but I was to call him Sep. I could respect that, seeing as I had a name I liked to shorten as well. Still, by the looks of him, I hoped he wasn't my stylist.

There were also two girls that both looked to be in their mid-twenties. As a matter of fact, I was sure they were twins. It was hard to tell though, because each one had been died, tattooed, and tweaked to the extreme.

The first was named Flora. She had forest green hair and dark brown skin. She looked like a tree, but I think that was the point. She was dressed in a pink, swishing dress.

The second assistant was named Fauna. She had normal colored skin, but it was covered in tattoos of different types of animals from brightly colored birds to scorpions covering every inch of her body that was showing. Her hair was bleached blonde, and she was dressed in a pink dress that matched her sister's.

It turned out Sep was my stylist. The first thing he and the twins did was begin work in turning me into something they called "Beauty Base Zero." I didn't know what that was, but I hoped it was good. They soaked me in at least three different colored baths, waxed me, plucked me, cut me, trimmed me, painted me, put makeup on me, and basically groomed me into someone I didn't immediately recognize.

When I looked in the mirror, all that I remember thinking was how pretty my hair looked. Sep had managed to take it from dry, flat, and sea salt infused to a glossy and flowing asset. It even held loose waves for the first time since I was little. My skin was polished and smooth, though it still held its tan. I was completely free of hair—with the exception of my eyebrows, lashes, and scalp. My nails had been neatly shaped into perfectly buffed, shining ovals. My toenails matched them. The girl in the mirror was beautiful.

I could see Sep applauding in the background. "Bravo, bravo! I must admit, I wasn't sure we could do it, but _now_ we have something to work with!"

I could tell he was kidding, but I scowled slightly anyways. I personally don't think I was that bad beforehand.

They put me back into my white Reaping dress and tan sandals before I was released to dinner. I didn't notice that my transformation had taken the entire day, but it did. Now, I was starving. I made my way to the dining car.

When I arrived, the first thing I noticed was the food. There were all types of it from seafood to different types of soup to all sort of pastries—some of the things on the table I had never even seen before! There must have been food coming from every single District in Panem. It all looked wonderful, despite the bread being a strange, yellowish tan color.

The second thing I noticed was that everyone at the table (which was Layke, Raida, Mags, and Finnick) was staring at me. I took my seat between Layke and Finnick, much to my disdain. I tried to go about dinner as usual, filling my plate. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore. "What?" I snapped.

No one immediately answered me for a second, and then Raida ended up filling me in. "Sep is absolutely brilliant! You turned out beautifully! No one will be able to take their eyes off of you! Oh, she'll have so many personalities to choose from, now… I think with a look like that, she could even pull off something like what you did, Finnick."

Finnick dropped his fork and shot out of his chair. "NO!"

I jumped. We all froze, confused by his outburst. He slowly sat back down, taking deep breaths to calm himself. I have to admit, this was the first time I had ever been scared of him. He was positively lethal. "I mean, I don't think that's such a good idea. So many tributes have tried that strategy, and it never seems to work for them."

Raida sniffed, her pride wounded, but agreed.

"Personally, I think I should have a say in the personality I'm going to have to act out," I added. It was unfair of them to decide without my input. Not to mention that even though I was a fairly good actress, and excellent with words, I doubted I could convince Panem that I was a sex goddess. I also doubted that I would want to keep up with the charade.

Mags interrupted Raida, who was about to say something. "We'll talk about that tomorrow. We've no need to tonight. Eat. Rest." Here she stood up and made to leave. Before she got to the door, though, she turned back to all of us. "Get along." I don't know if it was just me, but she seemed to glance between Finnick and me.

When she was gone, Layke grasped my hand under the table and gave it a reassuring squeeze. He didn't know that I had already resolved to keep myself alive; I think he was still worried that I wasn't even going to try. I didn't want to die, so I promised myself I would try my hardest not to. I also, however, didn't want Layke to die. I loved him—probably as much as my own parents. I decided then and there that Layke would be my main alliance in the arena to the very end. Then, we would decide what to do together. Who knows, maybe the audience would like the relationship and get us more sponsors. I squeezed Layke's hand back.

No one said anything after Mags left. Finnick was tense and seemed to be angry. Layke was equally tense, but I'm pretty sure it was just from nerves. I finished my meal and excused myself, returning to my compartment by myself. No one came after me. I didn't know if I would be able to sleep any that night, but I decided I may as well try. I would need my rest this week.

It was actually quite easy to fall asleep, much to my surprise. It was staying asleep that was the problem. I kept waking up to a man screaming. It was the most horrendous sound I had ever heard. The first time I woke, they gave me chills. The second time I heard them, they actually brought tears to my eyes. The third time, I couldn't stand it anymore. No one deserved to be in this much pain.

I got out of my bed. It was around 2 in the morning, and I was wondering down the hall. The cries were coming from the room diagonal from mine. I thought about knocking, but then I realized that the person inside was probably asleep so they wouldn't answer. I walked into the room.

To my utter shock, it was Finnick. I hesitated for a second, but thought the better of leaving. I didn't want him to be in this pain. It was just too much. I knelt next to his bed and grabbed his hand.

"Finnick," I whispered. "Shh… It's okay, you're just dreaming." The victor almost immediately calmed, reducing his bloodcurdling screams to simple whimpers. I kept hold of his hand tightly and stroked his hair softly with my other. "Shh, Finnick. You'll be alright…"

He fell back into a deep sleep. I tried to leave, but I didn't want to wake him. He wouldn't let go of my hand anyways. So, I stayed.


	6. When He Explained

I woke up the next morning not remembering where I was. Then, everything came flying back to me. I had been picked for the 70th Hunger games. I was on a train to my doom. And worst of all, I had gotten up in the middle of the night to comfort the man who had broken my heart five years ago. When I sat up and looked around, I realized that I was still in his room, lying in his bed. However, Finnick was nowhere to be seen.

No sooner than I had thought that, the door opened, revealing Finnick with a tray of food. He paused for a moment after seeing I was awake, but then moved in and shut the door behind him. I suddenly wished I could read people as good as I could persuade them. He had a blank look on his face as he set down the tray of food on the bedside table. Finnick sat on the edge of the bed. For what seemed like ages, no one moved or said anything.

Suddenly, he looked straight at me. "I'm so sorry."

I was shocked, but I he continued before I could say anything.

"You probably don't need to hear this right now, but I have to tell you. You have to know what you're going up against. You have to know that this isn't the life I wanted. I need you to know why things turned out this way."

I was still silent. What could he possibly have to say to me to explain what he did? Still, I resolved to hear him out. I could stomach it.

"It started after I left you at the Justice Building five years ago. You'll see later on today that each tribute has to pick a persona that's unique to them. It helps them seem likeable or formidable to the audience and ultimately gains them sponsors. Mags and I decided to go with the flirt act. That was bad decision number one. You know probably better than I do what happened in the arena… it's not something I like to think about. You saw last night what the result of that experience was. Anyways, after I won I was ecstatic and ready to get back to home—especially to see you. I couldn't at first though. There were some publicity things I had to do. Finally, a day came where I could go meet you. It didn't go quite as I planned. President Snow came and paid a visit to my house. He told me three things. The first was that I should never have gotten that trident. It wasn't 'fair' in the arena. I think he just wanted to intimidate me. The second was that despite the quick end to my games, the Capitol was still enamored with me. I had done a 'stupendous job' in convincing them that I really had a way with women and that I loved all of them. Snow told me that people wanted to pay for my company. Of course I told him that I would have none of it. I seriously told the President of Panem that 'I wanted nothing further to do with his dictatorship' and he had done enough. I even went as far to say that I owed him nothing and wouldn't help him if he sent me to the Peacekeepers. He just laughed at me. It wasn't a good thing for a 14 year old to bear witness to. The third thing the President told me was that if I didn't do what he said, he would slowly torture and kill anyone and everyone I ever cared about."

He paused, leaving me a second to soak everything in. Unfortunately, he didn't leave me enough time.

"He gave me until the Victory Tour to decide. I decided the next day that he was bluffing. He was the President, not a murderer. The Capitol had everything that they needed, and they didn't need me. So, I went on with life as normal—well as normal as I could while being a Victor. You know that part. Eventually, the half year anniversary of my winning the Games and Victory Tour was here. The day before, Snow was in my living room again. The only thing he said to me was, 'Well?' I pretty much told him to shove it. He just said, 'Very well,' and left. I found out later that day that both of my parents died in a fishing accident. You know very well that neither of them actually fished. I was fuming—plotting my revenge on the spot—when the phone rang. Of course, it was Snow. He told me—well he told me that you were next if I didn't reconsider. So I did it. He shuttled me to and from the Capitol for the next five years. At for the first year or so, all I had to do was go sit with the Capitol weirdos. Then Snow upped the ante. He basically prostituted me out to the highest bidders in the Capitol. The only good thing that's come of it is I've gotten a lot of dirt on a lot of officials. But I had to stop being your friend. I couldn't lose you too. I still made sure to look after you, but I refused to endanger anyone else. You and Mags are all I have left now…"

It was silent after Finnick finished his story. I didn't realize it until he reached out and touched my face, but I had been crying. It had taken me years to get over him, and now I'm finding out he never did anything but protect me. He's cared for me all this time, gone through so much, and all I had done was condemn him for it. All I can remember thinking at this point was that I was a horrible person who wasn't worthy to ever have had him as a friend. So, I got up and went back to my room without a word.

I stayed in my compartment through lunch. About an hour before dinner, someone knocked on my door. I didn't say anything, but they came in anyways.

It was Mags. "I don't know why that boy tries to be so noble. He was against telling you, because he was afraid you would hate him. I told him you deserved to know. He's been pining after you ever since the Victory Tour. If you ask me, I'd say he loved you. But seriously, Girl, you're tearing him apart. You need to tell him what's going through your head before he goes insane trying to figure it out." It was the most I had ever heard her speak before. I tried to think of something to say to her, but my mind was in so many different places, nothing came out. She didn't give me time to reply anyways. She left after she finished her last sentence.

I didn't go to dinner that night. I stayed in my room trying to avoid everyone, everything, and attempting to get some sleep. It worked for a little while, with the exception of Layke coming by to check if I was ok. He thought I was nervous about the Games, but I was actually sort of ready for them. I knew what to expect; I knew my fate. It's Finnick that I wasn't ready for. I didn't know what to do expect from him anymore. I really wanted to tell him what I was thinking and how I felt… the problem was that I didn't _know_ what I was thinking or how I felt.

* * *

><p>I woke up to the screaming again. It was midnight. I got up and went straight to Finnick's room without hesitation. When I did hesitate, however, is when I got there. In the end I decided to just wake him up. I knew he didn't want to be in that nightmare anyways.<p>

I took a seat on his bed. "Finnick?" I shook him a little. "Finnick. Wake up. I have to talk to you."

He had stopped screaming by this point, thank heavens. It tore my heart out when he did. Slowly, he opened his eyes. "Annie? What are you doing here?" he asked groggily.

"I need to talk to you."

Suddenly, he seemed alert, as if he had never been sleeping. "Was I screaming again?" he asked quietly.

I nodded.

"I never got to thank you for last night… I dreamed it was you, but when I woke up and you were asleep on the ground holding my hand I was shocked… to say the least. I was sure you hated me."

I took a deep breath. Here was the "in" I was looking for. "I'm going to be completely honest with you, Finnick. The day you left me on that boulder was one of the worst days of my life. I had never been so disappointed and hurt in all my life—and you know my parents. It was painful. It took me a long time to get better again." He winced, but I plowed on. "As a matter of fact, I doubt that I will ever be back to the way I was again. Layke and my parents helped, but I was always happiest when I was with you. I have a feeling that I can only truly be myself when I'm with you. I understand why you did what you did, but I would have much rather taken my chances—or at least had you tell me the truth—than what you did. For that I am furious. You're right—I did hate you. Or at least that's what I told myself. But now I know I can never truly hate you. You're my best friend, Finnick. I love you."

He was staring at me now, green eyes peering into green. He didn't show any sort of emotion on his perfect face. Suddenly, I realized that he was shirtless, and I was clad only in a nightdress. It probably wasn't a good thing that I was here like this, confessing my love to someone who wasn't my boyfriend. Still, I continued.

"You told me to remember, and I do. I remember who you really are, even if President Snow tried to convince me otherwise, even if _I _told you otherwise. And I'm in love with that person—the _real_ you, Finnick."

There. I was done. I didn't realize it until just then before I said it, but I really did love him. I just didn't recognize it when I was 12. Only someone that you love could cause that much hurt with a simple sentence… but they could also make you feel infinitely better just by simply being near you. I told myself I hated him. Then why had I kept tabs on him after he left? Why did I always thing about him?

It was silent for a moment except for the sounds of the train. My heart was beating a hundred miles an hour; I had just confessed my love to Finnick Odair, the most sought after man in Panem and the biggest player in the country. I waited for his response.

He slowly closed his eyes and grinned, flopping back onto the pillow. "This is an excellent dream…"

I rolled my eyes. "It's not a dream, nitwit."

His grin grew larger and he opened his eyes again. They were gleaming with happiness. "Either way, I'm still going to do this—" and he took my chin in his hand and brought my face to his. I don't remember how long the kiss lasted for, but it was long enough for me to need to catch my breath when it was over. He touched his forehead to mine before saying, "I love you too, Annie Cresta," and then he kissed me again.

I woke up the next morning cradled against his chest with his strong arms wrapped around me. I looked into his face and we both smiled. For a while, at least, we were content.

* * *

><p>It didn't last long. I suddenly remembered that I had a boyfriend who I loved very much. I thought about that: did I really love him as much as I thought I did? Yes. But did I love him like I loved Finnick? No. Finnick was the man that I wanted to be with for the rest of my life. I knew that now, whether he felt the same or not. As much as I tried to forget him, I never did. I had still sought out any information about him that I could after he stopped talking to me. I was only kidding myself that I had forgotten him. I loved Layke, but we didn't have the history that Finnick and I did. We didn't fit together as well as Finnick and me.<p>

Still, Layke didn't deserve to be cheated on, and I didn't want to hurt him by cheating. I had to do right by him. I couldn't just drop the relationship we'd had for years because Finnick came running back to me—even though I desperately wanted to. I quickly got out of bed and ran to my room. I didn't get a chance to do anything in there though, because almost as soon as I shut the door behind me, Raida came barging through my door. She narrowed her eyes at my most likely disheveled appearance and expression.

"I trust you slept well."

I laughed nervously. "Not particularly."

She pursed her lips. "Sep should have left clothes for you to wear in the drawer. Breakfast will be served in 10 minutes and then we have some work to do." I was beginning to get the feeling that she didn't like me very much.

After she left I got dressed in the clothes Sep had put in the drawer for me. He had given me another dress, although this one looked much more expensive and nice than the one I had worn yesterday. It was olive green colored and had a tan petticoat underneath. It was also tight about the waist, with a tan sash tied in the back to match the petticoat. It wasn't a halter top though, it simply had no sleeves with a sweetheart neckline. I left my hair untouched and went to breakfast barefoot.

I was the last one there. I took my place between Mags and Layke, and the conversation started up. I wasn't much in the mood to talk seeing as my brain was already going into overdrive what with Finnick and Layke… and the actual Games. I helped myself to a muffin that tasted like cherries and some eggs.

"So, Mags, Finnick. Have you given any thought to strategy as of yet?" Raida asked casually. I personally didn't want to talk about this until after breakfast, but I suppose the more time we used to plan, the better.

"I've considered a number of personalities for each of them. It all comes down to their acting abilities. They gotta show us what they got before any decisions are made," Mags replied. She seemed to take the position of importance when it came to mentoring. It made sense, seeing as she had years of experience on Finnick.

I had no problem with acting or lying. I hadn't lost my skill with words and persuasion by that point, so I could take whatever personality they thought best for me. It was whether or not I would be comfortable doing it that was more of a problem. "Don't worry about me. I can portray anything. Give me my best personality—that will actually work—and I can do it."

Raida shot me a disbelieving look, and opened her mouth to say something (no doubt about how she thought I was lying) when Mags interrupted. "Figures. Anyways, I want you to try being innocent for the rest of breakfast. Naïve. We want the Capitol to look at you as if you are something that should not be ruined—something they should protect. We'll reevaluate after breakfast if it will work or not."

I nodded in response. That would be too easy; I wouldn't actually need much change. I _was_ naïve at that point in my life. I had only known the safety of my simple home in D4. I'd only had one technical boyfriend, and we had never done anything sexual; we didn't need to. He knew how I felt, and I knew how he felt. Finnick kept his eyes on me, but Mags turned her attention to Layke.

"You're going to try being nice. I can't see you as anything else while still being believable. Kill them with kindness. Every word out of your mouth should be a compliment. Sound good?" Layke nodded. He was basically like that anyways. "Good."

The table was silent for a moment. I looked up while tearing myself a piece of strange looking bread and met eyes with Finnick. I blushed. I saw Mags smiling out of the corner of my eye. I had to stop thinking about this—I'd think about it later when I didn't have an audience. I spoke to keep myself distracted. "What sort of bread is this?" I asked. "I've never seen anything like it before.

Raida answered in a know-it-all sort of tone. "It's bread from District 12. Second only to District 10's bread. Delicious, is it not?"

"Certainly." I nodded in agreement. "Where does D4 rank?" I wondered aloud.

"The taste is generally too harsh for us Capitol folk. I'd imagine it was not near the top of the list."

I blushed again from embarrassment and focused on my plate. Raida definitely did not like me. Normal people would have answered in a less blunt manner. This showed she cared nothing of my feelings.

When Layke spoke, however, her disposition made a rapid turn-around. "It is rather good, but there's nothing like food from home."

Raida laughed. "Oh, yes. It is very unique. I myself enjoy it immensely. I only wish the other Capitol citizens could appreciate it like I did." She shot another smile at Layke for good measure.

I wanted to roll my eyes. I was innocent, sure. But not _that_ innocent. Her display was disgusting. She had to have been at least 10 years older than Layke, yet she was flirting with him! I didn't know if she knew that he was my boyfriend or not, but I doubted she would care if she did know. However, I kept with the innocent façade and ignored them.

Eventually, we finished breakfast and relocated to a sort of living room. It had two sofas and a few arm chairs sitting around a large television. Finnick had told me about how he watched reruns of each of his opponents constantly after being reaped. Now, I expected we'd do the same.

I was right. I settled onto a couch in between Mags and Layke, much to Raida's dismay. Finnick picked an airmchair, leaving Raida with the other one. "Right, well first things first. I expect you'll want to see your competition, so we'll rewatch the reapings," she explained, while hitting a button embedded into the armchair. The TV immediately flipped on to show Claudius Templesmith.

"Hello, everyone! Thanks for tuning in to the recap of today's reapings!" The camera zoomed in to show a close up of his face. I had never really paid attention before, but now I saw that his teeth were unnaturally small. This year, he donned a sparkling electric purple blue suit that looked almost painful to be in. His hair was a matching bright purple and slicked back. Other than his hair color and unnatural teeth, he looked fairly normal. He continued. "This year's recap will be commentated on by yours truly! Now, let's see what we have in District 1…"

The camera shot to the stage where a very tan lady with a gold forehead and matching eyelashes that almost reached her eyebrows came forward and drew a name from the fishbowl. "Carnival Petasco."

A huge boy was then shown on the screen. He had to be at least 6'5", which was even bigger than peacekeepers (who usually stood at about 6'1". He was muscular, too, which made him seem larger than he actually was. Carnival was tan—though not as much as his Capitol escort—with sandy blonde hair. He was obviously a Career, and I was obviously doomed.

He continued to make his way up to the stage, grinning broadly. At least he seemed friendly… There were a few volunteers, but Carnival declined them all. Volunteering went differently in each District. D4 went by age, but in D1, the reapee got to pick if s/he wanted a replacement or not. He wanted to go to the Games, so that was where he was going.

The Capitol escort reached again into the fishbowl. "Visage Entrack." A loud squeal was heard, and the camera shot to a pretty red head in the 16 year old section that was smiling enthusiastically and jumping up and down whilst clapping her hands. She ran up to the stage and did a cartwheel, much to the audience's delight. Visage waved out to them all and even blew kisses. She would be likeable by the Capitol for sure. I sighed. _Doomed…_ I thought again for the millionth time.

There were only a few others that really stood out to me. There was the scrawny boy that volunteered from District 2—a supposed Career district—named Fiasco. His district partner was a mammoth of a girl, bigger than any of the contestants so far, named Kate who had also volunteered. The girl from District 3 had sharp, dark features that made her look smart. Her name was Zelle.

Of course I didn't have to watch my reaping to see who I was up against. They had skipped over our Volunteer part of the Reaping. Layke took the stage looking large and formidable. He looked every bit the part of a Career. I, on the other hand, mounted the stage with tears shining in my eyes. I groaned. The only good part was it was going right along with the whole 'innocent' persona I had adopted.

The tributes from 5 and 6 weren't anything special. Just normal kids. There was a 12 year old boy from District 7 who cried the entire time. I felt bad for the boy. His name was Zephyr, and I could only hope he was as fast as his namesake. Maybe that would help him a little in the Arena. A girl named Arvarh and a boy named Joss were called from District 8. They were siblings. The boy from District 10 looked about my age but with fire red hair. He looked friendly and likeable, but also strong. His name was Tangent. His partner's name was Pepper, but she wasn't anything special. The District 11 and 12 kids were all gangly and starved looking. Every single one of them looked scared out of their wits. Even I thought I could take them, which is saying something.

Finnick laughed. "So if we're judging by looks, at least there are 5 that you guys can take." He was talking about the kids from Districts 11 and 12 and probably the crying 12 year old. He was also referring only to me. We both knew that Layke could probably take out more than that. Finnick just evened the odds for my benefit.

"Well that's that!" Raida chirped, standing up. "We should be arriving now." As if on cue, the train started to slow down. "Straighten yourselves up. There are bound to be tons of people waiting to see you!" She left the room, and as soon as she did it went dark. We had entered the tunnels that ran through the mountains. I stayed absolutely still. I didn't want to bump into anyone. But when we came out from the tunnel, it seemed as if I was seeing the world in a different light. I remember thinking that I was in a different world entirely.

We had reached the Capitol.


	7. When I Was a Mermaid

**A/N: **Hi everyone! First off, I would like to apologize for my rather abrupt disappearance. My old computer crashed and deleted everything off the hard drive (including this story). As much as I love this story, there was no way I was rewriting over 100 pages on Word. Fortunately, I found out that my hard drive had not been deleted, so I found a way to get it off my old computer and onto the new one. After some reformatting, it was as good as new... hopefully. So, as a peace offering, I give you this chapter of Finnick and Annie's story! The good news is some exciting things are about to happen! The bad news is, it won't be in this chapter. This chapter is kind of a boring filler until we get to the good stuff. Sorry, but I hope you enjoy anyways!

* * *

><p>I rushed to the window to get a peak of the fabled city. Sure, I had seen it on television plenty of times, but when I glanced out the window, it was different. The buildings were huge, and tall and of so many different colors. And the people! Almost every lady wore high heels and even some of the men. They had strange shaped hats and bright colored clothes. Their skin was different colors, along with their hair, eyelashes, and eyebrows—some had no eyebrows at all. I even saw a pair of twins with shaggy pink hair, pink eyelashes, and pink outfits walking huge fluffy pink dogs. I smiled in amazement.<p>

Layke was observing silently at my side. Finnick and Mags stayed back on the couch. They had seen it all before. Soon, however, I was dragged away from the window by Sep. He fluffed out my green dress at the bottom, tied it a bit tighter at the waist, and put a matching green headband in my hair that had a large bow on it. After applying a little more blush and laying out my hair softly around my face, he deemed me worthy. I joined the rest of my team at the door.

"Smiles, everyone!" Raida exclaimed.

I had just enough time to put a smile on my face before we were met by tons of paparazzi and Capitol citizens trying to get a closer look at us. I kept up the grin and pretended to look about in wonderment like any innocent girl would do. I even grabbed Layke's arm and pointed at a few things as if they were interesting. The press were shouting questions at us, but we ignored them. Soon we were in a new building—the Remake Center.

This was the building where Sep, Flora, and Fauna would get me ready for the chariot ride to the Training Center, which would be my home until the Games. I hope Sep dressed me in something that would make me stand out. Each costume had to reflect our districts, so a lot of the time tributes from 4 are wrapped scandalously in netting or given blue and white outfits. Finnick was as scantily clad as possible in his outfit. A few years back, our tributes were very boringly dressed in what the Capitol people called "swimsuits." Apparently that's what the Capitol swims in. I just used my underclothes, like every other person in D4.

I was ushered into the shower. Sep hit a few buttons on a giant control panel. I was done in a matter of minutes. When I emerged, my skin was literally glowing in a sparkling golden tone. After placing my hand on an electric pad, my hair was dry. I asked about it, and Fauna told me that it sent a current through the scalp that immediately dried and untangled the hair. Then, sitting stark naked, is where their real fun began.

Sep brought in what looked to be a deep blue, sparkling cylinder with small bumps all over it. My prep team stood me up on a platform and I soon realized what was happening. They wrapped the cylinder around me and were sewing it together as tight as it could go.

"Am I supposed to be able to move in this?" I asked incredulously. My legs were seemed glued together. I could bend my knees, but I couldn't separate them even a little bit.

"Oh don't be silly!" Flora giggled. "Don't worry, we'll help you!"

They were adding long strips of some matching fabric at my feet, although this was beautifully flowing. I suddenly realized what they were dressing me as. I was going to be a mermaid.

They put the top on me next. It was made out of some sort of hard fabric that wrapped around my torso. It matched the 'tail' exactly. It hardly covered anything on my torso, but it covered enough that I would be comfortable going out into the crowd.

I was sat down on the pedestal, thankfully. I wouldn't have been able to do it myself. The pedestal rose up, and Flora and Fauna began working on my hair. Sep had disappeared at some point after my shower.

I had absolutely no idea what they were doing to me at this point. I couldn't see behind me and there were no mirrors. Flora or Fauna (I can't remember which) worked on my nails, painting each one a dazzling dark blue that matched my tail.

Eventually, Sep came back. He did a once around me and then pulled out the makeup. "Close your eyes. Relax. You're going to look brilliant."

I did as he said. It wasn't as if I had a choice anyways. Plus it was kind of fun being done up like this. I only hoped that it turned out to look all right. We had started the transformation at midday. The Parade took place in the early evening, and then we would have dinner at the Training Center later that night. I wondered how long I had been getting ready for. I wondered what Layke looked like. Sometimes, the tributes matched. Other times they didn't. I didn't even know who his stylist was, so I could only guess.

"Alright. I do believe you're ready," I heard Sep's voice declare.

I opened my eyes. A mirror had been brought in front of me, and I could finally see the final effect. I gasped. I looked completely unearthly, surreal even. My skin was glowing and shining gold. Blue jewels were placed around my belly button and in designs on my hands and up my forearms. I had a simple gold circlet around my head and a matching thin, gold chain belt around my hips. My hair had been waved and extensions were definitely in as it now fell to a little below my hips. They had even put gold and blue streaks in it. My makeup was simple since my skin was already gold. I had dark blue eyeshadow and long, black eyelashes. There were a few dark blue jewels in a design on my forehead. I could still recognize myself, but I obviously looked different.

I was a mermaid, but not just any mermaid. I was the queen of the ocean.

I laughed. "Oh!" I breathed. "I'm a mermaid!"

He grinned back at me. "I thought you would like it."

I stood up to get better view of myself, but before I could do anything, I promptly fell on my face. I had forgotten about the not being able to move my legs. My prep team was all laughing at me. I grinned sheepishly. "Ok, so how am I supposed to stand in a horse drawn chariot while wearing this?"

"Don't worry about that just yet," Sep replied—rather mysteriously I might add.

He picked me up and put me in an electric chair. I felt like an invalid, but I knew that there were no invalids in the Capital. These chairs were simply used for the lazy. The idea made me feel sick, so I tried not to think about it. Instead, I focused on guiding myself alongside Sep. We ended up in a large holding chamber. I saw Finnick, Mags, Layke, and who I assumed to be Layke's prep team standing next to a black and silver chariot marked with a 4. There were other tributes wondering about as well, but I was looking at Layke's costume.

He had been wrapped in the same fabric that my tail was made out of, but it wasn't hard so he wasn't a merperson like I was. Instead, he got to wear a toga and strappy gold sandals. He had a gold circlet around his head, as well as a gold belt that held the toga in place. In his arm was a tall trident.

I had seen outfits similar to his before, but mine was something totally new in terms of District 4 costumes. The girls were usually just put in a blue dress with netting on it and they called it good. The girls also were usually Careers… so they didn't really need help in the costuming department. I did. Sep was currently my new favorite person.

My thoughts were cut short when Layke interrupted. "You look amazing Annie!" he practically shouted. "No wonder you took all day."

"Yes… we all thought you would be late." That from Raida. Her facial expression was unreadable. "That doesn't reflect well on anyone. Keep that in mind."

Of course by anyone, she meant herself. After all, she was the one that was in charge of my being where I should be when I should be there. I didn't point that out though… she already hated me. Instead I looked to Finnick. He was smiling at me enthusiastically. I shot him a small smile back.

"Alright, time for the parade! This is going to be so exciting! You two—in, in, in!" Raida clapped cheerfully. I raised a brow towards Sep. There was no way I was going to make it into that chariot by myself, let alone be able to stand there for the entire parade through the Capitol.

Sep laughed. "Layke, would you mind giving me a hand here?" he asked, gesturing to me. He nodded in response before Sep continued. "You take the fin and I'll get her up here so I nothing happens to her hair or makeup."

The pair of them lifted me out of my chair and towards the chariot. I wondered what they were going to do with me, but I soon saw that a shelf had been built into the front of the chariot. Since the horses knew the route so well, there was no need for anyone to lead them; therefore all of the tributes rode in the chariots by themselves. They sat me on the bench so that my fin went to the left in front of Layke and off the left side. I was leaning back on my arms. Layke joined me in the chariot. He had been given a golden trident that was clearly for decoration. I could tell by the way the blue jewels were placed on it, it was only meant to be a prop. He held onto it with his right hand.

I was jealous. If the chariot made an even remotely jerky movement, I would roll right off my little bench. I think Sep could see my worry, though, because he readjusted my position.

"Ok, Annie. I want you to roll onto your side to face the front and only lean on your right arm."

I did as he said. This was a little better because I could bend my legs. He then instructed me to hold onto the trident with Layke. I grabbed it. It helped a lot. That way Layke could help balance me along with my right arm. I even felt confident enough to wave if the situation called for it. Sep went around me adjusting my hair and fin while Layke's stylist did the same. When we were deemed perfect, Mags and Finnick came up to us.

"You're each holding the trident for a reason," Mags began.

"You two having a hand on the same weapon shows that you are both unified and deadly," Finnick told us.

Mags turned to me. "You're dressed like this because mermaids have a reputation of being playful. You are to be playful and innocent. Smile sweetly, wave. Play with your hair—giggle even, but whatever you do, don't fall off." I nodded.

Finnick then instructed Layke. "Layke. You are going to be stoic. Do not smile at anything unless it is Annie. You are going to show that you are serious about the Games, but you'll need to be approachable too so the Capitol likes you. This is where Annie comes in. Interact with you, and make sure you interact with him, Annie. But otherwise, remain expressionless. Understand?"

We both nodded. The plan sounded extremely smart… I would have never thought of that on my own. Layke and I glanced at each other. I was nervous, but he looked calm and confident. I knew that our relationship would help us out. I took a deep breath and smiled at him.

"Good luck!" Raida chirped, and then we were left alone.

I sat, making sure I was perfectly balanced on my bench taking deep breaths.

"You're gonna be fine, you know," Layke said quietly. "Just smile. You'll win them over in a heartbeat."

I smiled nervously. "We'll both be fine."

The District 1 tribute carriage took off in front of us. I was so busy thinking about what I was dressed as and how not to fall that I hadn't bothered examining anyone else. I decided not to bother with it—I would see them during the reruns that I would most likely be forced to watch. Instead, I decided to focus on my performance. I had to make myself look good… along with Layke too.

Our chariot lurched forward, and I gripped the trident with all the strength that I had to keep from falling. Once we were moving, however, I didn't have to hold on as much. We were off down the gleaming main boulevard of the Capitol. There were thousands and thousands of people lining the roads and even hanging out the windows of buildings. They were screaming names, I even heard my name and shouts of "FOUR!" People threw flowers, coins, even hats. I had the urge to reach out and collect the coins, but I restrained myself.

Instead, I smiled. I kept my left hand glued to the trident for balance, but the other I waved enthusiastically to the Capitol citizens. I ran my fingers through my hair. I covered my mouth and giggled. I saw myself on one of the huge screens—I looked very shy and girly. I was playing the part perfectly. Then I saw Layke. He just looked bored. I turned toward him a bit and ruffled his hair. He smiled up at me and sort of elbowed me playfully. I laughed and returned to waving to the audience. They were going ballistic. Shouts of "Four!" were heard from everywhere. I even heard some people yell "Annie!" I smiled and tried to wave in the general direction of the shouts. We were on the home stretch now; I could see President Snow's building up ahead. I flipped my hair and rolled from my side to my back. Layke laughed at me and ran his hand through my hair. I giggled and flipped my fin in response. The crowd was screaming its approval.

All 12 chariots drove around the circle and stopped. Soon, President Snow arrived on his balcony. He gave a quick speech welcoming everyone to the Hunger Games and soon the national anthem of Panem was playing. The tributes did a final circle around the main Capitol square and went into the Training Center.

Once I was sure I was out of the cameras view, I flopped on my back with my fin and arms hanging off either side of the chariot. "All we did is wave and smile, and yet I'm utterly exhausted…"

Layke gave a grunt of agreement, but didn't say anything in response because our D4 team had reappeared.

"How'd we do?" Layke asked eagerly.

"Dunno. We'll see in the replay," Mags replied gruffly.

"I heard lots of people yelling for 4 though!" Raida sung happily. Layke and Sep helped me into another electric chair. My hand was numb from holding onto the trident so tightly. We navigated our way to an elevator, and Raida hit the button "4." "We will have the fourth floor all to ourselves. It will be so, so, so much fun!" she squealed. I discreetly rolled my eyes.

The elevator was made out of a clear glass type material so I could see all the way up and down the shaft. I remember learning in school how the elevators used air to make them go up and down, so it was very fast and smooth. It made my stomach drop as we whooshed up to our floor. It was awful. I was happy I was already sitting down, or I would probably be a little dizzy.

I continued to follow Sep to my room, where he quickly removed my gold circlet and belt, along with the hair extensions and fin. It felt amazing to stretch my legs. I bid them goodnight and went to take a shower. It took longer to take a shower than to remove my costume because I couldn't figure out how to work the control panel. Eventually, the gold paint began to wash off, and I looked normal again. I stepped out of the shower and placed my hand on the drying pad. Sep laid out some comfortable black pants and a sea foam green t-shirt for me to have dinner in. I made my way to the common area on our floor.

When I arrived to dinner, everyone else was already there. It seems as if I was making a habit out of being the last to arrive. Raida sent me a pointed look, but I ignored it and sat in between Finnick and Mags.

"Eat up everyone! The reruns will be on in 20 minutes!" Raida exclaimed. She was entirely too happy.

Although, for the first time since my name was drawn from the fish bowl I was sort of happy too. I would never admit it to anyone, but being with Finnick again—even under such depressing circumstances—was fun. I liked it, and if I was going to die soon, I may as well spend my last moments happy. However, I could feel myself growing away from Layke. We didn't really have to tell Finnick and Mags that we would be mentored together: we were just so close already we were used to doing everything together. Still, there was an obvious wall between us that didn't exist before the reaping. I wanted to win the Games, but I didn't want any harm to come to Layke. I could tell he felt exactly the same way. We didn't have time to talk about it with everything going on. Instead, we just let things get a little awkward.

I resolved to try and talk to both Finnick and Layke tonight before going to bed.

* * *

><p>After dinner, we went to a living area with a large TV and watched a recap of the Tribute Parade.<p>

District 1's Visage and Carnival were dressed in unitards that were completely covered in sparkling jewels. Visage had a jeweled headband in her red hair, and Carnival had a matching one around his head like a sweatband. Visage was her overly enthusiastic self, jumping up and down and waving. Carnival was nodding and smirking at the audience, obviously playing the intimidation factor. They looked amazing, and were very popular with the citizens of the Capitol.

Kate and Fiasco from District 2 were dressed in electric red. They both had on tight tank tops. It made them both look more muscular than they seemed during the reaping—which is saying something considering Kate was already a beast and Fiasco didn't have a shred of muscle on him. I needed to find out what was so special about him—he didn't seem like a Career, but he did volunteer. They both had loose, flowing white pants to go with their tank tops and black boots. D2 was masonry, so I assumed they were supposed to be dressed kind of like bricks. The crowd cheered for them, not as much as District 1's tributes. They were Careers with potential, but they weren't memorable in terms of costume.

Zelle of D3 had a shiney silver dress on that was long, flowing, and strapless. She had a huge headpiece that sat on top of her dark hair that looked like a bunch of electrical wires criss-crossing. Her male partner had a similar silver suit and headpiece. They both looked bored and the audience wasn't very impressed with their performance.

Layke and I were next. We looked amazing—definitely the best so far. We seemed unified, like a team, but separate enough to be serious about the Games. Layke did a brilliant job at being stoic until I would give him a nudge and then he would smile at me. I seemed every part the playful, innocent mermaid. The Capitol had been going ballistic as we passed, and even after we had gone. I couldn't help but give a satisfied smile. I was actually proud of myself for this one.

I don't even know how the costumes from Districts 5 and 6 were supposed to be. I know District 5's product is power and District 6's is transportation, but honestly, they were boring in brightly colored dresses and suits.

The District 7 tributes also took a different route with the costumes this year. Instead of going for trees and lumber, they went with paper. Zephyr was dressed in a white turtleneck and pants tucked into knee high white boots. On his head was a giant paper headpiece folded like an origami crane. It looked difficult to make and the overall effect looked pretty cool. It wasn't very flattering, but it sure was attention grabbing. Zephyr's female partner was dressed the same, but her origami headdress was a frog instead of a crane.

The siblings from District 8 were dressed so ridiculously, it literally made me laugh out loud. Their district produced textiles, and obviously their stylist had taken the task literally. Joss wore a suit that was made up of different swatches of every fabric imaginable. There was velvet, crushed velvet, silk, cotton, jean, nylon, leather, latex, polyester, and several others I couldn't name. And each swatch was in a different color and pattern. Arvarh was in a matching dress. It was like someone had thrown them into a pile of fabric samples covered in glue. The audience didn't seem too stirred by them, but they were smiling nonetheless.

The tributes from the grain district, District 9, were dressed like pieces of wheat. They had golden brown jump suits and head pieces that had golden brown feathers sticking out in every direction. The literal take was uninspiring—it had been done before.

We were almost at the end of the parade now. Tangent and Pepper were dressed in sparkling blue overalls, although Pepper's was a dress and Tangents were pants. They had light blue sparkling t-shirts under them and cowboy boots that matched. Their District 10 was livestock, so it made sense.

Lastly, came Districts 11 and 12. Their outfits were also dull. The kids from 11 were dressed as apples—complete with round orbs for clothes and little green hats for the stem. The effect was comical. The pair from 12 were dressed as—surprise, surprise—miners. They had dingy grey overalls and shirts to match with helmets and a light that changed colors every few seconds. Their stylists even went so far as to smudge dirt on their faces. I immediately felt bad for them. They had absolutely no chance… although D12 usually never does.

Mags abruptly stood up, despite the program still finishing up. She muttered something about "bed" before making her way to what I assumed was her room. Raida stood and left too, not saying a thing to any of us—which slightly surprised me. She likes Finnick and Layke, so I expected her to at least say something to them.

The program ended with Claudius Templesmith saying something about how these were going to be the best games ever (like he does every year), and then the screen cut to the Capitol insignia while the anthem played.

I sighed. I didn't want to talk to Finnick and Layke. Doing that would acknowledge that I had a problem I had to solve. "I'm going to bed," I announced, and left to my room before either one of them (or Raida) could say anything. I didn't sleep however. Instead I changed into a nightdress and paced about the room, thinking.


	8. When I Made an Alliance

A/N: Here's the next chaper... training begins! Things are about to pick up... I've already finished up to the end of Annie's Games, so you can look forward to that soon. Also, I need a person to edit, fill in plot holes, toss around ideas with... all that fun stuff. Just shoot me an email if anyone is interested! You'll get to see everything before I publish it, if that is any incentive. Oh, and please check out the story cover that I made! It features Annie as a mermaid and a very delicious looking Finnick :)

One last thing, I've been working on a playlist for this story... songs that I listen to while writing or songs that really just encompass each chapter's general tone or theme. Let me know if you're interested in something like that.

Enough for now. Enjoy!

* * *

><p>I've liked Finnick since I was a child. He taught me everything I know, and if I, by some miracle, managed to make it through the Games, I would owe him my life. We were best friends. I know him, and he knows me. He knows me better than Layke, better than my own parents even. I was happier than I had ever been when I was with him. But he abandoned me. He made me vulnerable. He may have had good reason to, but if he had simply been honest with me instead of keeping things and assuming it was the best for me, I would have at least felt less like just another girl Finnick tossed aside—which was the new reputation of Finnick Odair. He was Panem's most eligible bachelor, wanted by all and loved by none… except maybe me.<p>

But Layke fixed me. He made my life happy again. Granted, I never opened up with him because I was afraid he would leave me like Finnick did. But he knew that, and still accepted me. He told me everything. He made me feel safe. I really did love him, and I knew he loved me. He volunteered for almost certain death just in order to protect me. I would owe Finnick if I won, but I owed Layke already.

I realized that leaving Layke had never been an option. I had his back; he had mine. We would stick together until the very end.

I had suddenly found myself with a new strength in my resolve. I had to talk to them both. Now.

I crept out of my prison and down the hall. I was going to see Layke, but the sound of Finnick's screams stopped me in my tracks. I took a deep breath, but it was shaky. I almost hated myself for what I was about to do. I kept trying to tell myself that it was his fault, but I knew it wasn't true. This was all me.

I opened the door to Finnick's room and slid through. I knelt on the side of this bed, just as I had during the train ride here. "Shh. It's ok, Finnick. Shh…" I murmured, grasping his hand.

His emerald eyes slowly opened. They were dark and frightened, but they softened immediately upon seeing me. Of course, that only made mine begin to water. I hated crying. "What's wrong Annie?" he mumbled, still half-way asleep.

I snorted. "Shouldn't I be asking you that?"

"I only had a nightmare, nothing new. You look like you're about to cry." He sat up, fully alert now. Finnick motioned for me to join him on the bed. I wanted to, but instead I stood up on shaky legs.

"Finnick," I began. "Finnick, I can't do this with you anymore."

He furrowed his brow. "What do you mean?"

"I love you. I do. But I can't be with you. You left me—" he flinched, but I plowed on, "and Layke found me. He put me back together again when I was scared, confused, and alone. I can't leave him when he needs me most. I love him, too."

Finnick slowly closed his eyes. He was eerily silent. I almost thought he had fallen asleep again, but then he spoke. His eyes remained shut.

I nodded and made to leave, but he stopped me.

Finnick had opened his eyes and they were staring at me. They were surprisingly cold, but I didn't expect anything less. "I can only bring one of you home—and that person is going to be you."

I suppose it was silly of me to not have thought about it all that much, but until that moment I didn't quite realize that Layke and I would never be together. He would die, or I would. I could only hope that we didn't have to kill each other. Layke was a good person. He had a family and a future. I was just a girl who could swim well and wanted to talk to people for a living. Of course I would do everything in my power to let Layke live if it meant killing everyone in the arena—including myself.

Finnick must have sensed my thoughts because as soon as I opened my mouth to tell him that, he stood up. "No exceptions," he said harshly, and stomped out of the room.

I could feel my throat closing up as the weight of his words hit me. I had just inadvertently killed Layke.

I ran to his room and slipped in before crawling into bed next to him. The tears were streaming steadily down my face at this point. I didn't want to be here. I wanted to go home where everything would just go back to normal. But that would never happen, and I knew even then that nothing would be normal again.

Layke was stirring. He opened his eyes slowly, but was alert when he saw me. He sat up.

"Annie? What are you doing in here?" He took note of my appearance and immediately pulled me toward him. "What's wrong?"

I didn't say anything for a while; I was too busy trying to pull myself back together. "I'm sorry," I eventually mumbled quietly.

Layke pushed me away so he could look me in the eyes. "What are you sorry for?"

I took a shaky breath. "I'm sorry that you had to volunteer for me. I'm sorry I've been acting so weird since the reaping. I'm sorry that I'm only going to be worse."

He laughed. "Don't be sorry, Annie. I volunteered for a reason. I did because I didn't trust anyone else to protect you. I was the only one that could, and I love you enough to die for you."

The thought made me sick. How could I live with myself if he did that for me?

"Nothing is going to be the same after this, Annie, but there really isn't much we can do but try to survive. We have to take things one day at a time—starting with training tomorrow. I know Finnick and Mags have a plan for us, but I have one too."

I looked back up at him, hope stirring in my chest. "What?" I whispered.

"Think about it. Who usually wins the Games?"

"Careers." I answered immediately. 90% of the time, it was one of them.

"Exactly. And we're from District 4. We are automatically Careers. It doesn't matter that you never went to training, because I did. And I know that you and Finnick used to be friends. Surely he taught you something other than how to swim." I was surprised that he knew this. I hadn't exactly told him about Finnick and me. I nodded though. "We'll both ally with the other Careers. With any luck, we'll make it to the top six. By then, we'll know their weaknesses and when we separate, it will be easier to protect ourselves. I will be able to watch over you."

I thought about it. It might work—I just didn't want to end up in the final two with Layke. The thought of killing him made me nauseous. "It's the best we have…" I relented.

He pulled me back towards him and lay down. "From there, we'll figure out what happens. But tomorrow, unless Mags and Finnick tell us something completely different, I want us to make friends with District 1 and 2 tributes. I'm sure they'll be seeking us out as well. Can you do that, Annie?"

I smiled and nodded. It wasn't a real smile, but it showed that I had hope. And for the first time since being reaped, I did. I could pass as a Career. We would both be safe that way. I closed my eyes and fell asleep before I could worry about anything else.

* * *

><p>Today was the first day of training.<p>

I put on a pair of tight midnight blue pants and a white shirt that Sep had laid out for me. They were light and I would be able to move around in them easily, seeing as that is mainly what I would be doing today. They were also very comfortable. I clipped my hair to the side so it would stay out of my eyes, for the most part. Then, I slipped on a pair of tan, leather ankle boots as well, and headed to the main living area to have a bit of breakfast.

When we got into the elevator, however, I regretted eating instantly. We plummeted so fast, I was sure my face matched the color of my pants by the time we stopped in the basement. Layke shook his head and laughed at me; he grabbed me by the shoulders and led me out of the death elevator to the group of tributes in what looked to be a waiting room.

While some scary looking Capital lady was pinning the number "4" on my back, I looked at the rest of the tributes. This was the first time I had seen them in person, without looking mad. I heard someone whisper, "So the fish actually has legs. And here I was thinking I'd be able to kill her easy in a land arena!"

I turned to see who it was, my face reddening. It was Tangent from D10. "And here I was thinking you looked friendly…" I muttered to no one as Layke wrapped his arm tighter around my shoulders. They were all whispering about me, except for the little ones. They actually looked afraid of me—which I suppose they should be. To them, I was a Career.

And I intended to keep it that way.

I smiled innocently at Tangent and gave him a wink. He stopped his whispering, looking somewhat shocked at my boldness. I slipped my arm around Layke's waist and smiled at him, to keep up our "unified" appearance. It was like I had been suddenly infused with confidence—that was good, since I needed every ounce of it.

We were waiting patiently for the rest of the tributes to arrive, when the pair from One walked up to us.

"Sup, merfolk?" Carnival asked. He seemed even bigger up close in person.

Visage giggled. "Technically it was only Annie who was the mermaid, Val. Layke was the God of the Sea." Carnival rolled his eyes. She shot him a wink, and my eyebrows rose in response.

Layke let go of me and we separated a bit. This is the part where we played Careers, not a unified team. Careers needed to concentrate on themselves. I could get them to accept me. I could.

"We weren't the only weirdos out there…" Layke shot back, meaning them.

There was a moment of silence as we sized each other up. It was no doubt that they would be an asset to Layke and me. I crossed my arms and cocked my head to the side keeping my facial expression blank, trying to look tougher than I was. Layke would probably see right through it, but I was a pretty good actress so I doubted the other two would.

After what seemed like forever, Visage smiled brightly while jumping up and down and clapping. Carnival spoke up. "Why don't we stick together for training? I think we would… benefit from each other."

I allowed myself a small smile of triumph.

"Sounds good," Layke agreed.

The door to the training area opened, and I went in to see what there was to see.

The training area was a huge, open room. The ceilings must have been at least 30 feet high. There were no windows, though, giving me a feeling of claustrophobia. Around the edges were stations set up, complete with various targets and weapons of all sorts. One stand was even completely covered in greenery. I made a mental note to check that one out; if they were showing us greenery, then that meant there would probably be some in the arena.

I could hear what Finnick had told me earlier during breakfast. "Keep a Career with you at all times, but try your best at everything. Show them you are Career material. Show the others you're a force to be reckoned with. Flaunt your talent with the spear—you're better at that than I am. Learn some new things too. It's important to check out the edible plants station if they have it, but keep a Career with you."

"Where to first?" I asked.

The rest shrugged in response, so we just made our way to the beginning. Other tributes were already scattered about the training area—we were the only ones still taking it all in.

The left half of the room was devoted to various weapons. There were stations for knives, spears, tridents, swords, archery, axes, hand to hand combat, and the "uniques." Uniques were weapons that were rare to see in games—things like nunchucks, Sais, shields, mases, slingshots, and poison darts. The right half of the room had stations for survival: camouflage, edible plants, edible insects, trapping, fishing, ropes/nets, climbing, fires, shelters, and weightlifting.

We decided to go to the weapons stations today, and do survival tomorrow. I knew a lot about the survival techniques they would teach us anyways, but the edible plants/insects would definitely be worth checking out. I assumed that we would probably do more weapons tomorrow as well since most of the Careers had control of all the food and supplies given by the Gamemakers.

We arrived at the first station: swords.

Carnival grabbed one up and immediately started swinging it around expertly. After a few flourishes, he swung himself around and promptly beheaded a mannequin that was positioned behind him. He surveyed the damage he caused on his lifeless opponent, before placing the sword back on the table. "I think I'm good here. Who needs help?"

Layke rolled his eyes. I had seen him use a sword before at Training. While I never went to actual Training, Mother had me volunteer a few times as a medic; I would help patch Potentials up after they finished bludgeoning each other. He slowly examined the swords on the table and chose one. Next to him, Visage was doing the same. After they both picked one, they began to duel.

"Uhh… that would be me," I told Carnival.

He smirked. "What? Didn't have sword training at mermaid school?"

"Are you going to help me or not?"

Carnival grabbed my arm and dragged me to the table. "Welcome swordsmanship in 10 minutes or less. Now usually, the first step would be to pick a sword that is right for your stature—like you would use a smaller sword. But in the arena, you won't exactly get a wide variety to pick from." He looked over the weapons again, and picked a smaller sized one with a thin, though sharp, blade and handed it to me. I took it and held it awkwardly at my side. "Always hold the blade in front of you, at a diagonal across your chest. This will allow you to be ready if someone attacks you, and it will protect you if they attack you and you weren't expecting it."

I nodded, taking in everything he said. I was surprised he was helping me like this. We might be allies now, but he shouldn't be giving me this much help since we would be going against each other in the end.

"Since you aren't experienced with a sword, I don't advise you using it if you are in a one on one fight. But if you have to, you'll have to be very careful. I don't have time to teach you the technical names and moves involved in sword fighting. You're going to have to watch your opponent. If you see his arm go like this—" he brought his arm up as if he was going to attack me from above, "then you move your sword to block it. Same goes for the other way around. Get it?"

I shrugged. "Better than nothing."

We practiced various moves for a little while before Visage and Layke were ready to move on. At least I was comfortable and felt as if I could defend myself if I only had a sword as a weapon.

The next table was tridents. Now I would have a chance to redeem myself. I walked over to it and picked up the first one I saw—large and made with shining gold. I took it and held it about halfway up the staff, wrapping my entire arm around it. I proceeded to crouch low and swing it around like Finnick had taught me all those years ago. He was the best person in our district, and I was his only pupil… meaning I was pretty good too. I even threw it into the air and caught it, before leaning back and hurling it at the mannequin with every ounce of strength I had. It hit where I wanted it: right at the stomach. Much to my surprise, the trident went straight through the mannequin, cutting it in half. I straightened up and smiled. That made me look a lot better than I actually was. "I think I'm good here. Who needs help?"

They all laughed, but Carnival was laughing so hard, I thought he wouldn't be able to breathe. "I like you," he admitted after calming down a bit. "I'm glad we chose them, Viz. Now, show me how you did that."

It turns out that the Potentials in D1 could only work with whatever weapons they could find. Since they were landlocked, they were not provided with tridents for working, so the Potentials never used them in Training. This definitely gave Layke and me a leg up on the others. I taught Carnival a few things while Layke worked with Visage.

We hit all of the weapons except for the Uniques. I was pretty good with knives since they were basically used like small spears. I was ok with a sword, too. I was absolute rubbish with a bow or axe though.

"Care for a spar, Mermaid?"

I turned around, and so did Layke, Visage, and Carnival. It was Tangent, the D8 Tribute. I raised a brow, suspicious. "With me?"

He nodded, clearly not wanting to say anything more.

I looked back towards the rest. Layke just shrugged, while Visage continued toward the hand-to-hand station. Carnival was just staring at Tangent with an unreadable expression. So, I turned back towards him. I could hear Finnick's voice in my head saying, 'stay with a Career,' but something made me want to go with him. "I—I'll catch up with you guys in a second…" Layke shot me a look that clearly said he didn't agree with me, but I went with Tangent anyways.

We walked towards the swords. I had already been here, but I felt as though Tangent had something to tell me that would be worth more than learning how to fight with my puny limbs. He grabbed a weapon, and I quickly followed suit. I got in a defensive position that Carnival had showed me earlier and waited. Tangent slowly picked up his sword and then stood there.

I broke stance, confused. "I thought you wanted to spar?"

He laughed. "Not really. I've already been here twice today. Not to mention I'm probably worse with a sword than you are."

I was confused. "Then what do you want?"

"To talk, mostly." Tangent half-heartedly got into a fighting stance. "I think we should form an alliance."

I was shocked. Why would he want to form an alliance with me? I didn't have much time to ponder it though, as he began an attack with the sword. I quickly blocked it, but it wasn't very powerful. In fact, there was nothing behind it. I knew he was only doing it for appearances.

"Why?" I attacked this time, and he blocked sloppily.

"I think it would be… beneficial. I see something in you, and so do the mentors. Mine wants me to get you on board. Plus, you're gonna get a ton of sponsors, you're good with weapons, you're smart…" he got quiet, "and I can tell you don't want to be here."

My eyes widened. He had some major guts to say that here, where we were sure to be monitored. I laughed nervously. "You give me entirely too much credit. I'm horrid with any weapon that isn't in my district. The only reason anyone has anything to say with me is because I was dressed up like a mermaid. I have no idea what I'm doing—the only reason it seems like it is because of my mentor… but you're right. I would much rather be at home."

Tangent mulled over what I told him. By this point we had even stopped pretending to spar; we were just staring at each other with swords in our hands.

Finally, he had come to a decision. "I don't care. I want you," he said with a shrug.

I was so confused. After all I just told him, he still wanted me as an alliance. I didn't see anything beneficial about him. He didn't make an impression during the Tribute Parade. His District was subpar and barely produced Victors. Sure he was friendly, and looked like he would be strong, but he was horrible with a sword, and probably most weapons. Even his fire red hair would work against him in the arena. "I'm sorry, Tangent. I was told to make alliances with the Careers. You're not one. I don't see how this would be beneficial to either of us."

Tangent just started laughing and returned his sword to the table. I did the same. "Alright then. The offer still stands though. I want you as an alliance." He began to walk away, but he ended up stopping. "I'll have my people call your people!"

I shook my head. In another time, in another place, I could definitely see us being good friends. I immediately stopped thinking along those lines and went back to Visage, Carnival, and Layke at the hand-to-hand station. I was surprised to see that they had been joined by Kate and Fiasco, the tributes from District 2. It was even more intimidating to see them up close… Kate was at least an entire foot taller than me, and Fiasco was only an inch or two shorter than her.

"Welcome back, Mermaid. Have a nice chat?" Carnival laughed while fighting off Visage.

I shrugged. "It was weird."

Layke looked at me suspiciously.

Carnival pinned Visage to the ground, winning their fight. He got up quickly to show that she wasn't injured in any way. The number one rule in training was to not hurt any other tributes. "What'd he want?"

"He wanted me as an ally. I have no idea why." After seeing their questioning glace, I elaborated. "I told him no. I already have an alliance."

Carnival and Layke nodded in approval. Visage just smiled at me, although it was more of a smirk.

"Annie, this is Kate and Fiasco from District 2. They're in with us now," Layke told me.

I glanced at them again, this time smiling in greeting. They remained stoic and silent. My smile was soon gone. "Good to know. The more, the merrier…" I said sarcastically.

Carnival laughed, but before we could do anything else, a loud buzzer went off, signaling the end of training.

Layke put his arm around my shoulders to lead me back to the fourth floor. "We'll catch up with you guys later, yeah?"

Everyone nodded and we went back to our rooms.


	9. When I Trained

**A/N:**

**Hi everyone! I am sorry this took so long to get out. I posted a message as a review because I didn't want to make it seem like I had updated when I didn't, but I don't think anyone saw it haha. But what it said was very important:**

**I just moved about halfway across America a couple weeks ago and I have been without internet for a while. On top of that, I've started up again at University, so I've had a lot on my plate. Please know that I have absolutely ****_NO_**** intentions of abandoning this story or even putting it on hiatus... however, updates will be very irregular. To guest: thank you so much for your support! You'll be happy to know that I have written up to the end of Annie's games right now. I'm trying to work with a Beta so I can make sure there are no plot holes and everything makes sense before I post them, so the process is taking a bit longer than usual. If you get an account and send me a message, I'd be happy to give you a couple of sneak peeks... just because I know you're such a huge fan :)**

**Also, thanks to my new Beta, SeptemberSkies. She is seriously being such a big help!**

**So here is the new chapter! Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>"You did what?!" Finnick growled at me.<p>

After getting to our floor, Layke and I were cornered by Finnick and Mags. They wanted to know everything, but I probably should have left out the part where I went off alone, or at least told them that Layke or someone came with me. They would have never known the difference; Layke would never tattle on me. I sat on the couch next to Layke, and Finnick and Mags were standing in front of us.

"I really don't see what the big deal is. All he did was ask me into an alliance. I said I already had one. Then I went back. The end."

Finnick let out another groan of frustration and flopped into the armchair, rubbing his temples. Mags took over for him. "Now the Careers know you have options. Who's to say that you didn't make the alliance and tell the others differently? You're not stability anymore, you're a liability."

I paled. I definitely wanted to be a stability.

"Nothing is the matter. She handled it fine. We were all watching her, and we could plainly see she was telling the truth. Plus, the tribute from D1 is interested in her. He likes her—said so himself. He wants to keep her. Annie didn't do anything wrong."

I glanced at Layke. Why was I so interesting to all of these people? Just because I made a "splash" at the Tribute Parade, didn't mean that I'd be good at anything else. I stood up. "I'm going to bed," I announced, and left before anyone could say anything.

Finnick, Layke, and Raida all tried to come get me for dinner (although the latter didn't sound too pleased about it), but I wasn't hungry. Of course, it was still early so I wasn't very tired either. I spent my time exploring my room, which took quite a while. There were so many buttons: some that brought up food, some that changed the temperature, and others that even rearranged the furniture. Sometimes, ignorance was bliss. It was hard to believe the Capitol had all of this, and the Districts had almost nothing. District 4 was pretty well off. I imagined that District 1 and 2 were about as close to the Capitol as a District could be. I couldn't even imagine what the poor districts like 11 and 12 were like. It must be mind blowing for those tributes to be here.

Around one in the morning, I couldn't stay in my room any longer. I didn't want to wake anyone on my floor either, and the other floors were off-limits as far as I knew. I made my way to the elevator to see if something would happen when I got in—probably an alarm or sensor alerting the Peacekeepers to my attempted escape.

I wasn't escaping though, and no alarms went off. I surveyed the buttons. All that was below me were Training areas and dining halls. There was a button for a Preparation Room—I didn't know if that meant a room for the stylists to help their tributes get ready, or it was a room to prepare for something else… but it didn't really matter. My eyes spied something else: a roof button. I pressed it, and was immediately shot upwards. I quickly grabbed onto a railing for fear of falling over. The doors opened with a whoosh and I stepped out into the cool, night air. Thankfully I had yet to put on my pajamas, so it wasn't too big of a deal.

Much to my dismay, I could make out another figure on the roof. I paused in my tracks, but the elevator had already given me away. The figure whipped his head around and stared right at me.

It was a little boy, the one from District 7. He was the one that cried through the entire Reaping. I took a cautious step forward. "Hi…" I began hesitantly. "I'm sorry for disturbing you. I just came up here for some air."

He nodded. "It's alright. I imagine we won't be the only ones." His voice was high pitched. He hadn't even gone through puberty yet. He was obviously a 12 year old. No one liked it when kids that young were Reaped. In my district, someone always volunteered for them. I guess things were different in the poorer districts.

I walked over to the ledge where he was standing. I knew he wasn't going to jump off or harm himself. A tribute tried that once when I was very little, but was caught before she hit the ground. Apparently, the Capitol has invisible force fields that prevented accidents from happening at the bottom of every building that was over 5 stories. As punishment, the girl had to wait an extra five minutes on the starting platform. By then, the Bloodbath was finished, and the Careers were waiting for her when she stepped off the plate. She didn't stand a chance.

But the Capitol really was lovely. It was so colorful. There were so many lights too. D4 only had electricity at night, and even then the Unem Sector didn't have any. It was strange to see so many buildings and vehicles with working electricity all at once. If I were here for any other reason, it would have been exciting—and maybe even enjoyable.

I could tell the little boy was thinking the same. Suddenly, he turned to me and stuck his hand out. "I'm Zephyr, from District 7."

I instantly shook it. "Annie Cresta: D4."

"Nice to meet you, Annie. You were the mermaid, weren't you?"

I laughed. It seemed that would be what I was infamous for. "Yeah. Compliments of my crazy stylist and his team…"

"No kidding. The way people dress here… I've never seen anything like it." District 7's main export was lumber, so I imagined he hadn't. "My stylist has pink bows on her eyelashes. I'm amazed she can even see. And she's completely bald! Except for one section of hair on the top of her head that's colored pink and tied into a bow—but that's even weirder than being bald."

I hadn't seen any of the other stylists, only mine and Layke's. I tried to imagine Zephyr's, and it had me laughing immediately. "And how do they walk in those shoes?" I asked. "My escort was galavanting around in heels that were six inches tall—platforms, no less. I would have fallen over."

We stood there laughing at the crazies from the Capitol. When it finally died off, Zephyr asked me another question in a much quieter and serious voice. "How's your training going?"

I glanced at him. He looked about ready to cry. "It's fine. I'm learning a lot."

"You're lucky," he said. "You've been training for this. You're in with the Careers."

I smiled, wanting to cheer the boy up somehow. "No way. My mom wanted me to be a healer, so I wasn't allowed to go to Training like the rest of the kids at my school. Layke did though. He's been a Potential since he was 14. That's the only reason I'm allied to the Careers."

Zephyr openly gawked at me. "But I saw what you did with that trident! Don't lie to me!"

"No, no! I really didn't train for this," I defended. "My best friend growing up was Finnick Odair—"

"The Victor?"

"Yeah. He taught me how to swim, and we would go fishing afterwards. He taught me how to use a spear and trident during that. I've had no formal training. Neither one of us ever thought we'd be chosen. And then after he was picked, we both thought I would be safe. I mean, what are the odds of the both of us being reaped?"

He didn't answer. We both knew. They were not in our favor.

We sat silently for a while, before I decided it was my turn to speak. "What brought you up here?"

"Honestly?" he said. "I wanted to jump. I thought it would be easier than in the arena."

I was shocked at his honesty. I thought it was common knowledge about how you couldn't jump from Capitol buildings, but I suppose this boy was a little too young to know about the girl that tried it. "It's a good thing you didn't. There are force fields that would have caught you. The last time someone tried that, she had to wait on the plate for an extra five minutes. It wasn't pretty."

Zephyr looked horrified. "Joanna says I'm too young to be here… she still chose me over Sera."

"Is Joanna your mentor?"

He nodded. "Yeah. She's… something. I guess she's fine though. Really strict. She tries to help me, but I know it's useless."

"Don't say that, or else it will be. You have to try."

"At least you have a fighting chance, Annie. The best I can do is run and hide. Maybe throw an axe if the wind is right."

The poor boy looked hopeless. I wanted to cheer him up so bad, I said the first thing that popped into my mind. "I'll help you."

His head snapped up, and he locked eyes with me. "Are you serious?"

I sighed. "Yes. You deserve a fighting chance, and while I may not be the best one to give it to you, I want to help. But here's the deal. It has to be secret. I can only protect you if I'm in with the Careers. If they know that I made another alliance, I'll be the first one on their list, followed closely by you."

He was nodding enthusiastically and even had a small smile. I couldn't help but return it. There was a spark in his eye that hadn't been there when I first got here—hope. "I'll do whatever! Can I tell Joanna? She'll be able to put it in my strategy."

I didn't know if that would be a good thing or not, but the boy looked so happy I couldn't help but agree. "Finnick is going to murder me before the games even start…"

* * *

><p>Layke and I once again got off the death elevator, me gripping his arm tightly. I hated that thing. I would be taking the stairs next time for sure. Up wasn't a problem, but I hated falling with a passion; it was one of the many things I was afraid of.<p>

"Hey Mermaid! Layke!"

We looked around to see Carnival yelling at us from next to the entrance to the Training Center. We walked over before I pointed out annoyingly, "I have a name, you know."

"Of course you do. It's just too plain for you. You make a much better mermaid. Very pretty." He shot me a wink, and I'm sure I blushed. Layke tightened his arm around my waist. I hoped no one would notice, but I was wrong.

"Are you two dating or something? You seem way more… touchy feely than the average pair of tributes…" This came from Visage, who was examining us through narrowed eyes.

It's not that having a relationship between tributes was a terrible taboo—it was just something that no one had been stupid enough to try before. In the eyes of the Capitol, a love story like ours could be seen as endearing and romantic. In the eyes of the other tributes, we would be seen as individually weak and together even worse. Not to mention we would be a liability to our alliance. Right now everyone was on the same page, but if they thought Layke and I would turn on them, we would be out and our odds of coming out of the Games alive greatly diminished.

Layke looked to me, his eyes pleading. He never was a good liar. "Of course not!" I feigned disgust, making a facial expression that I hoped was repulsion. "Layke and I grew up neighbors… he's like an older-brotherly type I guess. We were friends; that's all." Carnival and Visage seemed to accept my answer, because they shrugged and turned their attention to the Training Area, which was now free to enter. I tugged Layke's arm, falling a bit behind the other two. "Sorry. I didn't mean it."

He squeezed my waist slightly, and then let me go. We hurried to catch up with Kate and Fiasco, who were already at the edible plants and insects' station.

We moved on from station to station quickly today. It seemed as if the Careers already knew about a lot of the survival techniques. We spent the most time at stations that could be specific to the arena—edible plants and insects, camouflage, the like. I was ecstatic when I saw the station for fishing. Finnick and I had mastered that technique even without a weapon long ago during my swim lessons. Right now, it was highly likely that the arena was going to involve some sort of water, which was alright with me. It gave me hope.

I passed Zephyr at the trapping station. He didn't even acknowledge my existence. I was happy for that. I could trust him now. I spent the whole night after our little chat worried that he would say something that would ruin me—and him in turn. I suppose he thought I was his best chance; I thought his faith was in the wrong person.

"Looks like we'll be in some sort of water arena this year," mused Kate, absentmindedly. Her voice was deep and soft, unlike her eyes which were currently glaring at the trainer who was talking to a Tribute about swimming techniques.

Carnival came up beside me and gave me a sort of sideways hug. "Good thing we have the fish on our side then, huh?"

Fiasco snorted. So far, that was the only thing I heard from him.

I didn't like that Fiasco one bit. He gave me the chills. As much as he didn't look like a Career, his very aura screamed it.

"Come on, I think we're done here. Let's head back to weapons for the rest of the day."

We avoided the normal types of weapons that are usually found in the arena since that's what we did most of yesterday. I walked over to the Unusuals with Carnival. He seemed to like me enough to follow me around without question, which was fine with me. I wanted to like him—he was nice enough—but there was just something slightly off. It was probably that even though he liked me and we were in an alliance, he wouldn't hesitate to kill me.

I picked up a plain, silver slingshot with thick, black bands. A Capitol insignia was pressed into the metal where the U met the handle. I grasped the black rubber that showed where your hand was supposed to go, and picked up a box of small, metallic pellets that I assumed went with it.

"How do you fire?" I asked the man behind the station.

He quickly showed me how to pinch the pellet in between the small leather at the end of the black rubber. I thought it would be harder to pull back, but it was surprisingly easy.

"Wait a second!" The trainer came back over and corrected my stance to hold the handle parallel to the ground instead of perpendicular as I had been about to do. "Use it almost like a bow."

I nodded and turned sideways, pulling the black leather with the pellet pinched in it to my mouth. I took aim and let go, staying still until I saw the pellet shoot right through where the shoulder would be of my opponent. I let out a breath I hadn't been holding. I tried a few more shots. I hit someplace on the chest every time. I even managed to hit the head once. I felt a little better. If the arena didn't have any water weapons, then at least I would be able to use something like this and maybe a sword.

A loud buzzer went off, signaling the end of training. On the way out, I caught eyes with Zephyr. He nodded slightly. I would have to meet him on the roof tonight.

Finnick and Mags met us again at the top of the elevator. I answered their questions, and this time they approved of all of my actions. Layke told them about how everyone thought the Arena was going to involve water. Finnick seemed relieved as he shot a glance in my direction. Then, it was dinner time.

Raida was already at the table, patiently waiting for us. "It's about time. Dinner was supposed to begin 4 minutes ago!" she scolded.

Finnick just laughed at her. "Calm, Raida. It's not as if we have anything else to do tonight. Four minutes won't hurt anyone."

She shot him a smile, albeit one that wasn't quite up to par with the sultry ones that she normally shot.

I picked at the enormous meal in front of me. It was funny how I had everything I could ever want right here at my fingertips, but I didn't want any of it. I wanted my mother's slightly burnt homemade bread. I wanted Layke's crab salad. I wanted anything other than this. It was too good to be normal.

"Tomorrow is your individual training," Mags said after some silence. "Decide what to do."

I had to decide what to do. Should I score low so I wouldn't be a target for the Careers? I immediately shrugged off that idea. I was considered one of them. If I got a low score, they could see me as a hindrance and dispose of me early on. I had to stay long enough to help Layke make it to finals. So then I had to score high. I had no idea how to do that. If the Gamemakers were watching when I pulled that stunt with the trident yesterday, maybe I would have a shot.

Unfortunately, I doubted I would be able to recreate that. I would try though. To get a high score I had to prove I could survive, and I would show them how. I realized that I had strength in my variety. I could use a trident and spear—like most D4 tributes could. But I could also use a slingshot. I was even ok with the sword and knives. I was excellent with any of the water type stations… tying knots, fishing… Maybe I wouldn't be so bad off after all.

"What are you planning on doing, Layke?" Finnick asked. It may have just been me, but I heard a tone of coolness in his voice.

Layke shrugged. "I don't know. I just have to get a high enough score so that the Careers don't put me first on their list. Probably mess around with some weapons or something."

Finnick and Mags nodded in approval. "And you, Annie?" the older lady asked.

"Same, I suppose. I'm quite good with a slingshot and decent with a sword now."

"You should have seen what she did with the trident the other day—completely skewered a dummy. Even the Careers were impressed. If she can do that again, she's got a solid 10 for sure."

Of course Layke would go and raise everyone's expectations of me.

I slightly reddened at the compliment. Finnick was smiling at me like a proud parent, which I suppose was fitting since he was the one to teach me that particular trick. "I doubt I'll be able to pull that off again. It was sort of a onetime thing."

Layke threw me a disapproving glance, but didn't say anything. I was suddenly tired of eating. I was actually quite tired. I did way more today than I did yesterday. "Is that all we have to discuss for the evening?" I asked. I wanted to get some sleep in before I went to meet Zephyr. "I'm exhausted."

"Yes! That's all for the night! Goodnight, Annalinda!" Raida chirped, back to her usually Annie-hating self.

I glared at her. "It's Annie." I went to bed, not even bothering to change out of my training clothes.


	10. When I Gave a Speech

I woke up in the middle of the night. I was surprised that I had managed to fall asleep and stay that way, considering my current predicament. Still, I figured I would need the rest and I should just be lucky. I made my way up to the roof, hoping that Zephyr would be there and the adventure in the death elevator wasn't for nothing.

It wasn't. This time, however, not only was Zephyr waiting for me, but a girl. She was slightly older than me with short, cropped brown hair. "Ah, here she is. My hero of the hour." She snorted, her voice dripping in sarcasm.

"Joanna!" Zephyr scolded.

The woman instantly rolled her eyes. "Right. Sorry. I'm Joanna Mason."

I was deathly afraid of this woman. She was a Victor, which earned her fear points right there. Not only that, but she had ruthlessly killed at least six tributes… more fear points. On top of all that, she was smart.

She had pretended to be a small, frightened, weak girl in her Games. Everyone forgot about her once they were in the Arena, but when the tributes were down to a manageable number, she revealed that she was a killing machine. She killed every last one of the remaining tributes, smiling the whole time. It almost reminded me of Finnick's Games.

"Annie Cresta." I didn't make a move towards them. I could tell this would be a business meeting and nothing more.

"True or false?" she asked, meandering towards me. "Zephyr said you were willing to make an alliance with him."

Our eyes were glued to each other. "True. I have conditions though."

"So do we."

"I'm currently in an alliance with the Careers. That can't be jeopardized; it would be bad for both of us. This has to be a secret until the Careers collapse."

"Deal," she replied, almost too quickly. "When that happens, you take him and help each other. However, the alliance ends at the final three. No more, no less."

That was an odd request, but it made sense. I wouldn't want to kill Zephyr, so we couldn't be in the bottom two. Still, it made me think that he had to have some sort of hidden talent if he thought he could take down two tributes. I decided to go with it. "Fine. Is that all?"

Joanna smirked. "No. You can still help him while you're in with the Careers. You see, Zeph here is fast and quiet… like his name. If you leave him things, he can use them."

"That would be incredibly risky. If they caught me I'd be dead!"

"Surely you could make up some excuse."

She was right. I did have a way with words. "Alright. You'll be keeping an eye out right?" I asked the boy.

He nodded. "Don't worry about where you put things. I'll be watching and listening. And don't worry about them finding out. I'm very good at being quiet." He grinned.

I couldn't help but smile at him back.

"Tell her about the other thing!" he demanded of Joanna.

She rolled her eyes again. "Zephyr says that if something should happen to him, you get the rest of his sponsor money—that is IF it wasn't your fault."

"Are you joking?" That was a very, very generous present. "I can't do the same for you! It would be unfair—"

Joanna cut me off. "Trust me. I know Finnick very well. I know you can't tell him about our little deal here; else you'd be forced out of it. So don't. This is what Zephyr wants." She made it sound like his Last Will, which it sort of was. The mood became instantly gloomy. "Let's go, Zephyr."

Joanna grabbed the boy's arm and dragged him to the elevator of doom. He managed a smile and a wave in my direction before they disappeared to what I figured was the seventh floor. I immediately went to the cursed thing and hit the down button, returning to my room before someone else came up for some air and guilted me into another alliance.

* * *

><p>I woke up to screaming. It was Finnick. He sounded horrible; it was heart-wrenching. I almost went up to go comfort him, but I had to stop myself. I wasn't Finnick's anymore. He wasn't mine to comfort.<p>

I buried my head under the pillows, trying to stifle the noise. It was almost worse, because then I could hear my sobs along with his screams.

* * *

><p>Today was the day of our personal scores. I still had absolutely no idea what to do, so I thought about it over breakfast. Neither Finnick nor Raida were present, and what with Mags being so silent, there wasn't much conversation going on anyways.<p>

I decided my best bet was to mess around with a trident and a spear. If I could skewer a few mannequins, and then show my versatility by using my other weapons and knowledge in an interesting way, then I was sure to get a good enough score to prove I was a Career.

"Are you ready for today?" Mags asked as we headed towards the elevators.

I stayed silent, an obvious response for 'not a chance.' Layke replied with confidence though, "Sure. I don't think the competition is all that fierce this year. Won't be a problem."

They both glanced at me expecting me to add my input. If they were looking for enthusiasm or reassurance, they certainly weren't going to get it from me. I shrugged. It was the best I could give them.

We plummeted to the basement level. Mags shoved us out of the death trap rather unceremoniously, and then disappeared behind the smooth, chrome doors. In front of us were most all of the Tributes. No one seemed to be talking to each other today—not even district partners. Today was all about doing your personal best, not your best with the help of others. There would be no alliances. This was all me.

We would be called into the training room one at a time, in order of District. The girl would go first, the boy would go second. That was always the way of it: the reaping, the interviews, everything. It was a Panem motto that ladies were always first. That meant I would be going seventh. I had an hour and forty-five minutes to think of something brilliant.

Unfortunately, that's not how my mind worked. Instead, my mind wondered onto subjects like how Finnick was missing from breakfast, how Layke seemed almost excited for these personal evaluations, how my parents were managing, if there were cameras here now showing us across all of Panem, how both Carnival and Tangent were shooting me looks when they thought I wasn't looking, about what on earth I was going to say in front of the nation tonight at the Interviews, and magic Sep would come up with for me to wear to said interviews.

"Female District 4 Tribute."

I froze. That was definitely me. I shot Layke a look. He didn't seem to grasp my panicked meaning as all he gave me was a smile and a shrug… either that or he didn't care. I instantly dismissed that thought. He loved me; of course he cared. There just wasn't anything he could do. I got up and was escorted by a rather intimidating Peacekeeper to the entrance of the Training Area.

I took a deep breath, and stepped forward.

I stood there, silent, unmoving, and stone faced, in the middle of the area facing a balcony where the Gamemakers sat: the men who held my life in their hands. They had on sharp, black suits with a random different pop of color somewhere on the trim of each suit. They were generally all middle aged—most had facial hair in rather unique cuts ranging from zig-zag mustaches, to goatees with intricate designs. They were all staring down at me, waiting for me to do something.

I stared right back at them, not doing anything.

I clearly wasn't good at this. I was failing, and the Games hadn't even started yet. I could feel the first ever zero in the history of the Hunger Games flashing next to my picture across Panem. I couldn't move. I suddenly realized that right now, I wasn't confident with weapons. I wasn't good enough to use them.

I had to do something. I had to impress them. I had to make them remember me. I had to make them want to help me.

My mind went blank as I was completely frozen. Then suddenly, everything became crystal clear. I realized what I was good at, and I would use it to my advantage. I cleared my throat.

"Hello, gentleman," I began. If their attention wasn't on me before, it certainly was now. Something told me that not many Tributes attempted to hold conversation with the Gamemakers—most wanted to show off their skills. I only needed to convince them that I had a talent. "I may not know you individually, but I know who you are and what you do. And I'm certain you know who I am." A few nodded, showing the truth to my statement, while others were still trying to comprehend the fact that a Tribute was talking to them. I went on. "Now, I'm going to show you what I do."

The man who looked to be the head Gamemaker, Eilon Cypruss, stood up. "This is rather unconventional, Female District 4 Tribute."

I smiled sweeter and let out my "crowd pleasing giggle." Nothing like a giggle to get a group of overly serious men to relax… or at least feel comfortable enough to give me what I wanted. "Please, Sirs. I only want to say a couple of things."

"I, for one, would like to hear the girl out." The man with the zig-zag mustache shifted in his seat so he was leaning forward. There were nods from all around.

I had them.

"According to the odds, I shouldn't even be here. I was one girl out of thousands. According to fate, however, I am. It's like in the stories—the old ones. The stories from the Dark Days that were full of danger. Sometimes you didn't want to know the endings, because they were so bad, how could they possibly end happily? How could the heroine go back to her state of bliss and the way it was when so many terrible things happened to her? But in the end, the danger is only a passing thing—shadows. Night. Even darkness must pass. And that's what these Games are: a mere shadow that means to smother me. I can out shine this shadow. The characters in these stories of old kept going, because they were holding onto something."

I let the words flow, focusing only on them. I had been floundering, but after I let my speech take over, I knew exactly what I wanted to say and how to say it. The Gamemakers disappeared. I saw only my goal at the end of this speech: I was going to be the one they rooted for. I would be their Victor before the Games even began.

"What were they holding on to? How could they survive? Most Tributes come here only wanting to be Victors because of the fame and fortune. There are other things to live for, and they're worth fighting for.

"I'm fighting for something much bigger. There are people that depend on me. I've grown up in a District all my life; I've known nothing else. Consequentially, I know there are some things worse than death, true cruelty, sadness, and hopelessness. The Capitol calls District 4 the Fishing District, the smelliest filled with the dirtiest people who all live on boats and shower in the sea. And it's a shame, it really is. For deep down, underneath all our dirt and grime, we've got some of the best people that ever existed. And I am one of them. You say that I left home for a better place. That now, at the Capitol, I'm where home was always supposed to be. But everything I have ever known is in District 4. Everyone back home is counting on me, to prove Panem wrong. We aren't just fisherman and their families. We are people of talent and virtue. I'm not about to let them down.

"Anyone can have skills to fight. Every terrified creature that claws its way through the Arena has some sort of skill going for them. So many of these tributes have such extraordinary skills—such extraordinary minds and instincts. Too extraordinary, I think, sometimes. Maybe it's idealistic, but I have the feeling when I talk to them they have already know too much and have too much talent. That they have been destroyed, one might say, by their own excellence. Regarded in this way, they are the heroes of their respective Districts: the finest products that could be produced. This is far from an exclusive affliction, however. As a matter of fact, by having these training facilities makes them just like everyone else. Think back to every tribute that has ever come through here. Do you remember the losers? No. Normal tributes die. It's the different ones you need to look out for.

"And I am different, because as much as I desire to live, I'm not afraid to die. That's one of the things that set me apart. It makes me dangerous. I'm not fighting to protect myself. I could use all of these weapons if I wanted. I've grown up with a few of them." I paused and grabbed a spear off a rack. I ran my hand down the smooth metal shaft. It was cold to the touch.

"I know how to slaughter. Living in District 4, you get to know a lot about butchering fish. We're made up of the same things—flesh and blood, tissue, organs. They're not the closest things to the flesh of a man, but when they are wounded, they will bleed. They will die. They can be killed. It's no different really. I could hit things, throw things, and show you my skills. But I won't. I don't need to. I don't need to impress you. I don't need to impress the Capitol. I don't need to impress Panem. When the world starts watching me, they'll be impressed enough.

"I'm going into battle against a tough and determined enemy. I can't promise you that I will come home in one piece, but I swear to you that I will be the first to set foot on the field and the last to step off. I will come back alive.

"You'll get your Victor. You haven't got anything to worry about. I'll let you in on a little secret, Sirs. I think I'm the girl to do it—to be the Victor, I mean. I have brains and brawn just like all the other tributes. But I'm different. I'm the whole package. They already love me. I won't let you down because I can't afford to. I'm putting everything I ever had into these Games, and they're taking all I have to offer. Well you, Sirs, are my last shot. I'll do what I have to, and that's why I'm speaking to you eccentrically like this. This is my last chance to prove I'm better than a fisherman's daughter, I'm better than any other tribute that has or will walk through this room. You're counting on me. Well, I'm counting on you too. It all depends on that single digit number you're about to pin to my name.

"Tomorrow morning, I'm going into the Arena. I'm going to fight against others for who knows how long. It could be days. It could be weeks. I'm going to fight and lose some. But I'll fight some more. I'm going to fight through the days, and I'll fight through the nights, too. I'm going fight when everyone else is resting. But, when it's all over, you'll have your Victor. It'll be the toughest time that I've ever lived through, and living in a District is hard work.

"I may be going out a Tribute, but I'm coming back a Victor… with your help of course."

The Gamemakers were silent as I let my final declaration hang in the air. That was probably the longest speech I had ever given, and it seemed to have its intended effect. The Gamemakers sat as still as statues. They looked shocked, surprised, thoughful, and impressed all at once. They seemed to be seeing me in a whole new light. Hopefully one that would make me stand out.

"Thank you for allowing me to speak to you," I said. I paused, and then added, "And Happy Hunger Games!" It was fake, but they would never know. I ran towards the door before they could say anything to me.

"Wait!" someone yelled. I turned to see Eilon standing up yet again. "You forgot to return the spear, Miss Cresta." Ahh, so they did know my name. Good.

I gave them all an award winning smile. "Oh yes!" I took position. "How silly of me…" I grinned again and hurled the thing at a mannequin in the middle of the room. It hit right at the neck and continued straight through, promptly beheading it. The buzzer sounded and I resumed my trip out the door.

* * *

><p>I didn't stop to look at after I left the training area. I wish I would have shot Layke a smile, give him a little encouragement, but instead I walked straight past the remaining tributes and into the wicked elevator. When it spit me out on the fourth floor, Mags, Finnick, and Raida were all waiting for me to talk about what happened. I stepped out of the elevator and stared at them. I would have gone straight to my room, but they were blocking every escape route.<p>

"So…" Finnick began, "how'd you do?"

What would I tell them? That I didn't do anything? That I simply stood there and spoke at them? Suddenly it hit me.

I had done nothing. I stood there and spoke to the Gamemakers as though they were classmates I was presenting a project to. Not only that, but there were definitely a few negative comments about the Capitol, and definitely mentions of District pride. That's what the Games are about. Squashing that pride and remaining in control

They would take it as a threat. They wouldn't root for me like I tried to get them to; they'd want me gone as soon as possible. They would rate me either low enough to make me a target or high enough to make me a bigger target. They would torture me in the Arena to show that I was nothing to them—to show that even though I loved my District, the Capitol held all of the power. If I had any chance of living before, it was certainly gone now.

"Well, Annie?"

I shuddered. "I messed up. Big." And with that I shoved my way through them to my room.


End file.
